Christian leaders in central Indian Madhya Pradesh state have urged the government to dispel fears among people before disposing of hazardous waste from the four-decades-old Bhopal industrial disaster. The appeal was made after two people set themselves on fire on Jan. 3 in protests. Protests erupted after authorities moved hundreds of tonnes of toxic waste from the site of the world’s deadliest industrial disaster in the state capital, Bhopal. The 337 tonnes of waste–sealed inside containers–were ferried in a long convoy of trucks over-night on Jan. 1, with a police escort, to Pithampur town, about 220 kilometres away. “We want safe disposal of toxic waste from the site of Union Carbide Corporation. It should not risk the life of people,” said Jerry Paul, national president of the Sarva Isai Mahasabha (All Christian Federation) based in Bhopal. Paul and his family are survivors of the chemical leak that killed some 3,500 people in its immediate aftermath in December 1984. For decades, local people have blamed the toxic gas leak for a high level of sickness due to groundwater contamination caused by the poisonous gas leak. Overall, 25,000 people are estimated to have died so far, according to activists helping the survivors cope with the tragedy.