The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday granted the state government five weeks to present a detailed plan for assessing and cleaning up contaminated soil and groundwater around the defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, the site of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy that killed thousands and left many more injured.
A division bench of Justices VK Singh and AK Nirankari accepted an affidavit filed by the Madhya Pradesh government seeking additional time to prepare a plan for addressing environmental contamination in and around the former pesticide plant.
According to the state’s affidavit, a meeting was held on March 3 involving the Additional Chief Secretary of Health and other officials to discuss the process of evaluating and remediating the polluted site. Officials deliberated on several key issues, including assessment of contaminated soil and groundwater, detoxification and decontamination of the corroded structures of the Union Carbide plant, and implementing a time-bound plan to restore the affected area.
The state government informed the court that it had decided to initiate the process by issuing a short tender for the assessment and remediation work. The tender will be floated from among organisations listed as “reference organizations” by the Central Pollution Control Board under the Environment Protection (Management of Contaminated Sites) Rules, 2025.
The High Court is currently hearing a batch of petitions seeking directions to ensure that the area around the former factory is made pollution-free.
The Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal was the site of one of the world’s worst industrial disasters. On the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984, a leak of highly toxic methyl isocyanate gas from the facility killed at least 5,479 people and left thousands of others with long-term health injuries.
Rachna Dhingra of the NGO Bhopal Group for Information and Action, who was present during the hearing, said the state government had been expected to submit the remediation plan on Friday but sought more time from the court to complete the process.
