HC asks Centre to get Bhopal's toxic waste tested at any lab

Jabalpur, Dec 19(PTI)In the wake of Nagpur-based DRDO lab refusing to conduct tests on samples of toxic waste lying at the defunct Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh High Court today directed the Centre to get it tested in any lab in the country and submit report to the court in three weeks. The directives were given by the division bench of Acting Chief Justice S Harkauli and Justice Alok Aradhe on a PIL filed by a social activist Alok Pratap Singh. Earlier, the Centre had informed the court that the Nagpur-based DRDO Laboratory had refused to conduct the test of toxic waste samples at its facility. Maharashtra Pollution Control Board had also turned down Centre's request to conduct the test on the toxic waste due to technical reasons. The bench while giving directives to the Centre to get the samples tested in any laboratory in the country within three weeks has posted the next date of hearing in the matter to January 17. PTI COR MAS ABC