RAJKOT:
Lakhs of labourers will continue to sit idle at Alang, Asia's biggest shipbreaking
yard in Alang, as shipbreakers have decided to keep their facilities shut on
Monday as well.
They are protesting against
the arrest of three shipbreakers, who were booked for culpable homicide after
six labourers were killed in a fire on an oil tanker on October 6. Those
arrested included the owners of Kiran Ship Breaking Company Ram Krishna Jain
and Vipin Jain along with the manager Rajesh Jugud.
"The
yard will remain shut on Monday in protest against their arrest for culpable
homicide. We will decide our future course of action on Monday whether to go on
indefinite strike or not,'' said V K Gupta, president of Ship Recycling
Industries' Association (India).
It
was the first time that ship-breakers have been booked and arrested under these
charges. If convicted, they face a minimum of three years jail and a maximum
life imprisonment.
SRIA
and its allied organizations have stopped work since Friday.
According
to Haresh Parmar of SRIA, ship recycling industry at Alang is losing crores in
revenue daily due to the strike by the shipbreakers, steel re-rolling mills and
other allied industries.
"Shipbreakers
are worried about their future with regard to accidents at the yards. Since
police have booked them under culpable homicide in this, we are not sure that
they may book other ship-breakers too in future in such accidents and arrest
our family members," said Parmar.
Police
said that different agencies probing the incident have found negligence on part
of the company. Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) has sealed the plot till its
investigation continues. "All the concerned agencies like Forensic Science
laboratory (FSL), fire department and GMB among others have found that rules
were not being followed while dismantling the oil tanker," a police
official said.
Source: times of india. 14 October 2012
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/rajkot/Alang-stares-at-longer-closure/articleshow/16813135.cms
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