BHOPAL: Activists of the environmental group, Greenpeace, on Thursday decided to boycott the toxic waste containment operation at the Union Carbide plant here on being denied access to the site by the State Pollution Control Board and Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation authorities.

Late on Wednesday night the authorities denied Greenpeace's request to be allowed to assess the capacity and preparedness of workers of the private company contracted for the clean-up operation, and to ensure that correct protocols were followed at the site. In response, the activists, who were even prepared to support the State authorities by way of safety equipment, said they were boycotting the entire containment operation. This was revealed by Vinuta Gopal, the Toxics Campaigner of Greenpeace India.

"Due process followed"

In a statement, Ms. Gopal said: "We have followed due process and sought monitoring permission through every appropriate bureaucratic channel. In response, the authorities led us to believe that they would ensure transparency during the containment. By backing off from their commitment at the last minute, they have reconfirmed our worst fears that they are not going to conform to the required standards for such containment."

Greenpeace and the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB) activists had set up a Workers' Safety Centre outside the factory site to raise awareness amongst the authorities and local population on the need for Personal Protective Equipment for all workers at the site. Greenpeace had also submitted to the Government protocols developed by their science unit to ensure that the best international standards were followed for this, the first stage of the containment operation.

It had also raised objections to the second and third phases of the proposed clean-up process, citing that a landfill is not a solution but will result in the creation of yet another time-bomb that will endanger the health of future generations of Bhopal residents.

The environmental group has been demanding that the clean-up plans and protocols be made public immediately and that the Government demonstrates a clear mechanism to recover the clean-up costs from Union Carbide. It also asked the authorities to allow independent experts, community representatives and NGOs to monitor the containment to ensure complete transparency and accountability and best safety standards for the workers and the communities living around the factory site.

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