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Activists plan challenge to "toxic" ship's entry into India
New Delhi, Aug 3, 2006 Environmental groups Thursday vowed legal action to try to prevent the scrapping of a ship in western India that they charged is lined with 1,200 tonnes of cancer-causing asbestos. The threat came a day after an experts' panel appointed by India's highest court approved the breaking up of the 11-storey Blue Lady -- originally the liner France --- at the Alang shipbreaking yard in Gujarat state. "The green signal for it to beach off Gujarat is illegal as the technical committee had no mandate to grant such clearance especially after its term expired on July 31," Greenpeace campaigner Ramapati Kumar said. "In this case, the Supreme Court has been bypassed and we will challenge in court the committee's approval," Kumar said. He said the ship contained 1,200 tonnes of cancer-causing asbestos in addition to other toxic materials such as polychlorinated biphenyls. The 315-metre (1,035-foot) ship was allowed to anchor in Indian waters 70 kilometres (43 miles) off Gujarat in June and the court-appointed panel had said it could not be broken up until its contents had been determined. Greenpeace and another environmental group, the Corporate Accountability Desk, accused experts of carrying out a "cursory and hurried" inspection before giving clearance for it to be broken up at Alang, the world's largest shipyard. "The inspection of such a large ship was done in four to five days which is simply not possible -- this is just a whitewash," Corporate Accountability Desk spokeswoman Madhumita Dutta said. The SS France was renamed the SS Norway and later the Blue Lady after being sold by its French owners in 1979. The vessel set out from Port Klang in Malaysia on May 6 under tow after being sold to Indian shipbreakers by its Malaysian owners Star Cruises. In February the ship was turned away by Bangladesh on grounds that it was too toxic to be dismantled there. Workers in Alang have been clamouring for it to be broken up at the shipyard, saying they need the work. In February the French government ordered home the aircraft carrier Clemenceau as it was travelling to Alang after a vociferous campaign by Greenpeace which said the ship was laden with toxic waste. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Dirt, rocks and all the stuff we stand on firmly
SKorean emergency aid heads for North
Seoul, Aug 3, 2006 The first shipment of emergency aid from South Korea to the North since devastating floods last month, which reportedly left up to 10,000 people dead or missing, left on Thursday, an aid group said. |
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