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by Ranjit Dev Raj, Inter Press Service

Announcing the action at a press conference here Greenpeace international campaigner, Marcelo Furtado said the ship built in Eastern Europe more than three decades ago planned to dump hazardous material on the Gujarat coast.

Furtado said the timing of the Greenpeace action would have coincided with a speech delivered by Indian Union Minister for Environment and Forests, T. R. Baalu at the fifth meeting of the Conference of Parties at the Basel Convention in Switzerland.

According to Furtado, Baalu, in his speech, appeared to renege from earlier commitments to stop hazardous waste imports and further clean up production activity.

"Till date there is no consensus on the criteria to be adopted to judge if a particular process or technology for disposal or recycling could be categorised as environmentally sound," Baalu said in his speech.

Baalu also expressed apprehensions that the ban amendment which imposes a blanket ban on movement of recyclable wastes to non-Annexe-VII countries like India may come in the way of technology upgradation of recycling industries.

"This would not be conducive to environmentally sound management of wastes which is the primary objective of this Convention," he argued.

Baalu also complained that the ability of member states to process wastes in an environmentally sound manner was not being taken into account by the ban.

But Furtado said India's record of handling hazardous wastes such as zinc and lead and other toxic material has been far from satisfactory and that there were indications that this country intended to continue with the lucrative shipbreaking industry.

Greenpeace has anchored its campaign craft, 'Rainbow Warrior' off the coast of Alang for the last two days to highlight the shipbreaking issue.

"The failure to enforce existing Indian law by the concerned authorities has forced us to into physical action," said Greenpeace Asia toxics campaigner, Nityanand Jayaraman.

On Wednesday, Greenpeace activists of mixed nationalities launched inflatable boats from the Rainbow Warrior to paint warning signs on the hull of the Greek ship 'Global Sao Paulo' proclaiming it to be toxic and dangerous.

Furtado said activists on the Rainbow Warrior currently in India on a "Toxic Free Asia Tour" spotted no less than 10 ships anchored off Alang waiting for favourable high tides to beach themselves for dismantling.

Countries that compete for the profitable but hazardous shipbreaking business include China, Bangladesh and the Philippines, the last of which is a favourite final resting ground for Japanese ships.

"Taking action on the current dumping operation in Alang and demanding decontamination of the vessels prior to import will benefit the Indian environment and the health of workers there," Furtado said.

India ratified the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal in 1992 but the shipbreaking industry continues in violation of the agreement and local Indian laws.

Furtado said Greenpeace has formally complained to the courts and customs authorities before embarking on the current action.

The Indian government has shown no signs of wanting to prevent the Gujarat coast from turning into the main graveyard for the world's ships bringing in an estimated 2.5 million tonnes of steel, representing 10% of India's overall steel production.

The most that has happened so far is that, last year in May, the Central Pollution Control Board produced a set of toothless guidelines for the industry and recommended rejection of old ships with high levels of pollutants under the Basel Convention.

The guidelines, the Board said, would help ship-breaking yards to work in an eco-friendly manner and serve as a yard-stick for the Gujarat Maritime Board and customs authorities to regulate the industry.

Most of the ships that arrive on the Gujarat coast come from the United States where environmental and safety laws prevent ship-breaking, but do not prohibit their export to other countries, Greenpeace says.

A report prepared by 'Toxic-Link', an environmental research group, in 1998, records the inhuman conditions of work in the shipbreaking yards.

Some 40,000 people working on a 10-km stretch of beach not only face grave occupational hazards but their living conditions are such that many suffer from leprosy and tuberculosis.

But that is of little concern to officials interested in promoting the $500 million industry.