''About 500 million computers were outdated in America during the last 10 years. They could recycle only 25 per cent of them. So, they have targeted countries like India where computer penetration is picking up fast,'' All Kerala IT Dealers Association Secretary L.M. Ashraf said.

An estimated 50 to 80 per cent of e-waste collected in the United States for recycling is exported to developing countries like India where it enters Ports like Mumbai, Chennai, Kandla and Kochi. E-waste covers computers, monitors, printers, scanners, modems, servers, cellphones, fax, copiers and telecommunication devices.

This Port city alone has received eight containers of outdated computers during the last few months. Even the Association members, before they were waken up by the impacts of this menace, sold at least 1000 computers. At least fresh 1000 PCs, branded and assembled, are sold every month in Kerala on an average still. But industry sources said they had already lost 40 to 60 per cent of sales to the imported second-hand computers.

However, thanks to the association and the State IT Mission, the consumers are slowly waking upto the hazardous impact of the e-waste. ``We have already conducted many programmes and our over 1100 members have vowed not to sell imported computers,'' Ashraf said.

The Association would organise an intense campaign, covering the entire State from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram, besides focussing on schools to check the onslaught of obsolete computers.
But there are still plenty of godowns in the city, stacked with old peripherals --monitors, central processing units and keyboards, apart from second hand PCs available for sale at thrown-away prices. The importers said they are doing something good for the lower-end customers.

“We are importing it through right channel under all necessary clearance. If people want these used computers at affordable rates, who can stop them. It is their choice and we are not pressing them,'' said Sanjaykumar Agarwal who owns such a firm in the Wellington Island. ''All are Pentium I and Pentium II machines and are available in the range of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. All imported from US,'' he said.

The laptops come at Rs 17,000 to Rs 21,000. The brands include IBM, Compaq and Dell. With the urban areas more selective, the dealers are targeting interior areas. They sell in bulk to new age businesses like call centres.

''The quality of the machines is very high. We have not received any complaints on PCs we have sold,'' said Aggarwal, who has appointed dealers in all districts and plans to provide servicing for the machines.

But the dealers and activists trying to arrest the trend said only a few in a container could be working PCs. The rest of the baggage is filled with hazardous waste peripherals and components. They are either recycled or fitted into other PCs. Components in electronic products contain hazardous materials, including lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium.

Second-hand computers and computer peripherals have been exempted from customs duty provided they are received as donation by educational institutions run on non-commercial basis or charitable trusts. Law stipulates that such goods shall not be used for any commercial purposes.

The United States is considered the largest e-waste generator in the world. Between 1997 and 2004, over 300 million computers turned obsolete with about 1.2 billion pounds of lead which is harmful for nervous, blood systems and kidney, according to the Association studies.

The same quantity of computers also resulted into two million pounds of cadmium content which is classified as toxic. Then 1.2 million pounds of hexavalent chromium comes out of the same. Besides, every computer has 13.8 pounds of plastic, the study said.

The dumping of e-waste is more viable economically, since cost to recycle a single PC in US would come to $20, while it is just $2 in India because of child labour.

E-waste is covered under The Hazardous Waste Amended Rules, 2003, and under the Basel Convention for which India is a signatory. Though some cities have already banned its import, a comprehensive law was needed at the national-level before the disasters awaken it.