In an
apparent end to the uncertainty over the fate of Asia’s largest ship-recycling
yard, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has clarified that
ship-breaking rules framed under the Supreme Court’s orders in 2007 should be
followed at Alang-Sosiya and elsewhere, official sources confirmed to The
Indian Express. This would clear the air about the last SC verdict that also
mentioned following the Basel Convention norms.
Both
ship-recyclers and government agencies with jurisdiction over Alang-Sosiya were
befuddled with the wording of the SC’s July 30 judgment that allowed the
beaching and subsequent dismantling of the controversial Exxon Valdez.
A
bench of Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice J Chelameswar had pronounced, “...
in all future cases of a similar nature, the concerned authorities shall
strictly comply with the norms laid down in the Basel Convention or any other
subsequent provisions that may be adopted by the Central government in aid of a
clean and pollution free maritime environment, before permitting entry of any
vessel suspected to be carrying toxic and hazardous material into Indian
territorial waters.”
The
Basel Convention is an international treaty on trans-boundary movement of
hazardous wastes that has been ratified by India. Its rules on ship-recycling
necessitate “prior informed consent”, “a reporting system for ships destined
for recycling”and “pre-decontamination”.
Consequently,
recyclers at Alang-Sosiya virtually stopped purchasing end-of-life ships. Those
that were anchored offshore and waiting to beach were stranded temporarily
given apprehensions by officials who wanted to play safe.
One
of the recyclers’ main fears was that if Basel and its rule of prior
decontamination of ships at the country of origin is to be followed, dead
vessels would have to be towed from foreign countries thereby making it either
very expensive or next to impossible to import them. On the other hand, the
2007 rules does not make such demands, have been implemented at Alang-Sosiya
since they came into force and have not had major impact on business.
Meanwhile,
environmental activists remain sceptical and routinely raise the issue of
alleged lack of workers’ safety and waste-management systems at the yard.
Lately, they have rued the non-implementation of Basel rules.
Source: Indian Express. 22 August 2012
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/moef-clarifies-sc-ruling-calms-rattled-alang-shipbreakers/991468/
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