By Ashley D'Mello, Times of India 

Workmen's insurance has been made compulsory prior to granting permission for breaking of ships, land has beenacquired for hazardous waste disposal sites and efforts are underway for sponsoring studies on hazardous wastemanagement.In addition, the monitoring of safety standards has commenced for each separate unit and thesestandards are being consciously improved with a system of rankings.
According to Sanjoy Chakrabarty, deputy chief surveyor of the government of India now attached to the DirectorGeneral of Shipping: ``Safety measures are being initiated and though we have a long way to go, something isbeing done at last.  The industry is finally being regulated by government agencies.'' 

Chakrabarty said that safety awards have been instituted for the best accident-free plot.  New legislation has also beenintroduced in Gujarat for further tightening of safety measures.It is now mandatory that only tankers, which aregas-free not only for man-entry but also for hot work can be brought in for breaking.
The total number of fatal accidents has come down in 1999-2000 to 27, states Chakrabarty.  The state has allottedland for a hospital in Alang and health awareness projects are being undertaken for educating workers on occupationalhazards.  Photo-identity cards have been introduced with personal details for workers to speed up medicalattention in case of accidents.  Working hours have also been regularised.

Chakrabarty, who visited Alang last week said that though measures have been initiated the tempo will have to bemaintained if there was to be success at the end.  The Gujarat Maritime Board has also laid out a plans for expandingroad facilities, community sanitation facilities, setting up of a post office, bank, telephone exchange, hospitals,community sanitary complexes, factory inspectorate, and a blood bank.
The central government and Gujarat government came under pressure to undertake measures for worker safety asthere were protests by Greenpeace International as well as other organisations such as Basel Action Network against themanner in which workers were made to work in hazardous conditions breaking ships from all over the world, mainlyfor steel scrap .Greenpeace targeted the shipping industry, governments and shipbreakers to expose and seekcommitment for improvements to the ship scrapping practices.All old ships contain hazardous substances likeasbestos, lead paint, and anti-fouling paints containing mercury and arsenic.  The workers were exposed to highlevels of these toxic substances while at work.  Moreover, the safety standards were abysmally low leading to ahigh mortality rate.

Along with the environment groups, the International Maritime Organisation had also issued guidelines for the breakingof ships and had drawn attention to the pathetic condition of workers at the breaking yards.
Chakrabarty, who has been attending the IMO meeting and is in touch with the IMO secretariat based in London saidthat it was difficult to make Western countries see the Indian viewpoint.  ``While safety standards were beingignored at Alang, we could not close down the business as 40,000 workers were employed in the various yardsthere.  Added to this was the fact that any action in Alang has to be reviewed by several government agencies'', hesaid.

Shipping industry circles feel that the cleaning up operation at Alang will take several years and will have to be closelymonitored by the government as well as Indian and foreign environment organisations to ensure that all the safetystandards are adhered to.

According to information from Greenpeace, of the approximate 45,000 ocean-going ships in the world, about 700 aretaken out of service every year.  At the end of their sailing life they are sold so that the valuable steel, about 95 percent of a ships mass, can be recovered.  In the early 1970s shipbreaking was a highly mechanised industrialoperation carried out in the shipyards of Great Britain, Taiwan, Mexico, Spain and Brazil.

But as the cost of upholding environmental and health and safety standards in developed countries has risen,shipbreaking has increasingly shifted to poorer Asian states.  To maximise profits, shipowners send their vessels tothe scrapyards of India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Vietnam.
It is estimated that over 1,00,000 workers are employed at shipbreaking yards worldwide.  In 1993, half of all ocean-going ships were being scrapped in China.  By the end of the decade, around 70 per cent of them were being scrappedin India.Last year Alang scrapped ships totally of 3 million light dead tonnes (LTD).  This year the business isnot as good.