Bhopal: Post Waste Cleanup, Clearing Encroachment On Union Carbide Land Poses Next Big Challenge

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Post the toxic waste clean up at the defunct Union Carbide Corporation UCC) plant, the state government faces another herculean task - clearing encroachments from the UCC site.

A large portion of land allocated to Union Carbide has been encroached upon by slum dwellers and now two colonies have come up on it. The Union Carbide was allotted a total of 87 acres for its plant. Of this, 55 acres comprised the covered campus where the plant was constructed. The remaining 32 acres outside the covered campus comprised three Solar Evaporation Ponds (SEPs) of the plant.

These SEPs, which are referred to by locals as ‘zehreela talab’ (toxic ponds), were used by Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) to store wastewater containing high concentrations of inorganic chemicals, especially chlorides. According to Gas Tragedy survivors and local residents, around 30%-40% of the 32 acre area has been encroached upon and slums like Blue Moon Colony and Garib Nagar have come up on the land which lies adjacent to the plant covered campus.

Even the Karond Bridge has also been constructed on land once allocated to the UCC.

The government now has to take possession of this land where slums have mushroomed. Mishrilal, a resident of Shiv Shakti Nagar, said that slums like Blue Moon Colony and Garib Nagar have been illegally developed on UCC land. “Shiv Shakti Nagar lies on one side of the ‘zehreela talab’ (SEP), while Garib Nagar and Blue Moon Colony have been developed on the other side, encroaching on the land allocated to UCC. Slums have mushroomed on both sides of the railway tracks,” said Mishrilal.