Financial Express reported that based on a
2007 Supreme Court ruling, the Union Ministry of Steel has issued a new
indigenous code for shipbreaking to be followed in India.
The new code a copy of which is with The
Indian Express does not make any reference to the Basel Convention, an
international agreement ratified by India.
Last year the Supreme Court had ruled that
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 allowing end of life ships to beach for dismantling.
The SC judgment was in regard to the
disputed entry of the former oil tanker Exxon Valdez at Alang Sosiya Ship
Recycling Yard last year. The vessel was involved in the infamous March 1989
oil spill when an estimated 2.5 lakh barrels of oil eventually contaminated
almost 26,000 sq kms of open ocean and 2,414 kms of Alaska’s shoreline.
While the SC allowed the ship to beach its
judgment led to some confusion among local authorities and traders at ASSRY
considered the world’s largest ship recycling yard. They halted buying end of
life ships and left several stranded off-shore for several weeks until the
Union Ministry of Environment and Forests finally issued a clarification saying
the 2007 SC guidelines and not Basel would be followed.
Under the more than 2 decades old Basel
Convention of Trans boundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes end of life ships can
be classified as waste and their movement restricted by provisions such as
written notification by the state of export to the states of import and
transit, a reporting system for ships destined for recycling and prior
decontamination.
Activists have in the past used the
convention’s provisions to try and block such ships from entering India for
dismantling.
The Steel Ministry’s new code issued
earlier this month and expected to be published in the Gazette of India soon,
does not specify any mechanism for such prior notification except for the ship
to notify the Indian Coast Guard or Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre once it
enters Indian waters and is headed for a recycling yard.
While the Basel convention also asks for
prior decontamination of hazardous wastes from onboard end of life ships, the
new code specifies that decontamination of non loose forms of such wastes
should be done after the beaching process and disposed of properly before
dismantling begins. Non loose waste refers to materials such as asbestos and
PCBs which were earlier used as insulating material in engine chambers.
Source: steel
guru. 1 April 2013
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