Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said on Wednesday that the hazardous waste lying on the Union Carbide factory premises here could possibly be disposed of by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, Nagpur, even as organisations representing the Bhopal gas leak victims and survivors condemned the report of the government-appointed Peer Review Committee on remediation of toxic contamination in and around the abandoned factory.
Mr. Ramesh was here to chair a meeting of the Oversight Committee on remediation of toxic contamination in and around the factory, recommendations of which were shared with gas leak survivor-organisations on Tuesday.
Leaders of five organisations representing survivors condemned the recommendations. In a letter submitted to Mr. Ramesh, the organisations alleged that the recommendations were unscientific, unilaterally decided and were designed to help Dow Chemical get away from its Bhopal liabilities by paying a pittance for environmental remediation.
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Addressing journalists here on Wednesday, Mr. Ramesh said the DRDO had shown interest to dispose of the 350-tonne hazardous waste lying on the factory premises and he would communicate this to Defence Minister A.K. Antony.