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Lloyd's List ALANG, India, 7 August 2000 -- Greenpeace has taken up to 140 samples of sediment, soil and water from India's Alang shipbreaking yard to check for possible toxic contamination. Samples from the world's largest ship-breaking yard, located on the Gujarat coastline, have been sent by Greenpeace to Germany for analysis. 'This was the first time that the Gujarat Maritime Board allowed a team of scientists and activists from Greenpeace to make an visit to the shipyard,' saidAsif partner of Khanbhai Esoofbhai, a 96-year-old shipbreaking outfit that operates at both Alang and Darukhana, Mumbai. Shiv Gupta, another shipbreaker, added 'The Board co-ordinated the visit, sincethe shipbreakers at Alang have been extremely touchy about visits to their plotsby It has also retained 24 samples for counter-tests.' Samples were collected from the beachfront, which houses 184 plots along 17 kilometres, and also surrareas such as the main road, a site near a Hindu temple and the living areasof workers. 'We intend looking mainly for toxic materials like lead, asbestos, cadmium, aromatic hydrocarbons and tributyl toluene,' said Greenpeace co-ordinator Marcelo who led the team to Alang with the organisation's occupation hazard expert Judith Kanthak. Mr Furtado was exceedingly critical of the allegedly inhuman living conditions of the workers, who are mostly migrants from the eastern states of Orissa and Bihar. He claimed the houses were dark, unventilated and congested. 'They live so close to their work site, which is full of toxic he said. 'They are continuously exposed to these dangerous conditions, even at home.' The visit had been arranged after the international organisation amended its inflexible stance to the extent of admitting that the Board and some of the leading shipbreakers had demonstrated a change. 'There has been an increased use of helmets, shoes and gear by workers, though in a limited form,' admitted the New Delhi-based Greenpeace Nityanand Jayaraman, who had launched the campaign named 'Asia Toxic'. Greenpeace has been cajoling the International Labour (ILO) to develop a manual for training workers at the shipbreaking yard. A team of ILO experts is expected at Alang this month. Their will be published by March. 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 |