BBC:
Authorities in India have removed hundreds of tonnes of toxic waste from a chemical factory that witnessed one of the world’s deadliest gas leaks 40 years ago.
Thousands of people died in the central city of Bhopal in December 1984 after breathing a poisonous gas leaked from the factory.
On Wednesday, around 337 tonnes of toxic waste was taken from the Union Carbide plant to an incinerator facility around 230km (143 miles) away after a court last month set a four-week deadline for it to be disposed of.
Officials say it will take between three and nine months to treat and destroy the waste but activists have raised concerns about potential damage to people’s health at the new location.
Since the disaster, the toxic material had been lying in the mothballed factory, polluting groundwater in the surrounding areas.
The toxic waste cleared from the factory this week included five types of hazardous materials – including pesticide residue and “forever chemicals” left from its manufacturing process. These chemicals get the name because they retain their toxic properties indefinitely.
Over decades, these chemicals at the abandoned factory site had been slowly seeping into the surrounding environment, creating a persistent health hazard for people who live in nearby areas.
