Clean Up or Ship Out
Our shipbreaking Yards are Raising Quite a Stink
by Ravi Agarwal, The Indian Express
2 July 2003 –
Last week, at an international meeting in Amsterdam, a representative of a shipping major stated that they preferred to send their old ships to China rather than to India for shipbreaking. Surprisingly it cost them more money to do so, not less. In a survey done of all the shipbreaking yards in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and China, none were found up to the mark, but operations in the Indian yard of Alang in Gujarat were the most unsafe and polluting. True the company may not be driven by environmental and humanitarian concerns alone, but by the ghastly imagery that Alang offered.
Shown to the European people as a final destination for their ships, the pressure to look “better” for the company could be immense. Several other shipping companies are now following suit, preferring to send their ships to China, or even Europe, despite the expense, since the yards look cleaner and are safer. Is the Indian shipbreaking industry then losing out on a Rs 2000 crore business simply because it does not change? Protected by the state and Central governments, it has not reformed its smug ways.
Alang, in Gujarat, the largest “graveyard” of ships in the world, is a destination for over 300 ships each year, or 50 per cent of the world’s retiring fleet. Old decrepit ships, full of asbestos, chemicals and oil sludge are broken to extract over two million tonnes of steel each year, more than ten per cent of the nation’s requirements: 180 plots employ over 30,000 people with more than twice that number being engaged in downstream recycling operations. The yards reveal a pre-industrial operation. The ships are literally hacked and sawed off by hand, the activity claiming dozens of lives each year. The government, instead of clamping down to improve the situation, has been content in making paper guidelines and resorting to rhetoric at global meetings to ensure a level playing field.
In 1999, the Central Pollution Control Board issued guidelines for shipbreaking operations. These included safety and environmental measures. Earlier in 1998, the Gujarat High Court and later the Supreme Court had issued directives to improve working conditions, provide water, sanitation and health facilities to the migrant labour force. Today, save for a few token boots, masks, helmets and health camps the situation remains unchanged. Last month alone over seven workers died in an explosion. The mandatory safety requirement of making a ship free of gas in order for it to be torched open is bypassed, and “gas-free” certificates can be bought.
The industry has made several commitments for improvement on several occasions but nothing has really been done. It has, in fact, challenged several court orders. Even as the Indian shipbreakers carry on with their old ways, the issue is being discussed at the highest international fora. If India is to remain in this business, it will need to clean up its act. Basic standards need to be followed. Clearly it is time to clean up or ship out!
FAIR USE NOTICE. This document contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The Basel Action Network is making this article available in our efforts to advance understanding of ecological sustainability and environmental justice issues. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
More News
|
