Germany has become the latest address to reject a parcel from the now defunct plant of Union Carbide in Bhopal, even before it began its journey. Kept in a sealed warehouse, the parcel contains about 350 MT of waste removed from the site of the 1984 gas tragedy. While the solid waste itself has nothing to do with the disaster but owes its existence to chemicals dumped on the plant campus between 1969 and 1984 — and is unlikely to have retained its toxicity — it has become a symbol of the horrific tragedy and come to occupy the centrestage of a promised clean-up, when attention should be focused elsewhere. Having acquired a life of its own without moving an inch, the waste issue is more sentimental than scientific. Alang in Gujarat where ships are taken apart, for example, handles more hazardous waste even though it may be less equipped than many waste disposal facilities in the country. Sporadic protests spurred on by activists, however, have ensured that the Bhopal waste was first rejected by Gujarat and then Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, even after court orders. And now GIZ, a German agency that promised to airlift the waste and dispose it of in Hamburg for a hefty fee, has withdrawn citing pressure from environmentalists and “public sentiments”. Having burnt his fingers, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh will vouch for the potency of such sentiments. As Environment and Forests Minister, he had held a piece of waste at the site and declared “I am still alive and not coughing”, in an apparent jibe at the activists. His effigies had been burnt in angry protests, forcing him to apologise. Ironically, the German firm had been suggested by Ramesh for the job after getting a recommendation from a Bhopal-based NGO. It bears reminding that the deadly methyl isocyanate actually behind the 1984 tragedy, which remained at the site in two tanks, had been neutralised two weeks after the disaster when the plant was made temporarily functional. It was called Operation Faith. It’s time for another.