For Alang, it’s time to shape up or ship out

Not only has the ‘Clemenceau’ episode result in a loss for Alang, but also made the European Union sit up and think.

Not only has the ‘Clemenceau’ episode result in a loss for Alang, but also made the European Union sit up and think. The French government’s decision to recall the decommissioned carrier, which was on its way to Alang, has made countries realise that they can no longer send ships with hazardous substances for scrapping in a developing nation like India.

Despite this, things at Alang refuse to change. The EU has even urged its members to set up their own state-of-the-art breaking yards equipped to handle ships with toxic material like asbestos. Which means, less or no ships coming to Alang which lags far behind in environmental safeguards, technology and safety.

With pressure mounting from green lobbies, Europe is seriously talking about setting decontamination and recycling yards in its countries and not sending ships to developing countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China where environmental norms are hardly adhered to.

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Calling the yard “modern”, Alang Ship Breakers Association president Raj Bansal says all they can do is provide hand gloves, gum boots, helmets and goggles to workers who are expected to dismantle ships that sometimes carry poisonous or inflammable gases and hazardous or toxic chemicals.

“Alang is already modernised. We have cranes in every plot and cutting is no longer done manually. Moreover, most of the plots have acquired ISO 9001 certificates for waste handling. And as is known, workers have to wear protective gear like helmets and gloves,” says Bansal. At Alang, helmets and gloves don’t save lives. In fact, when the ship-breakers were celebrating the Supreme Court’s green signal to another toxic ship ‘Blue Lady’, a worker died of asphyxiation and another was hospitalised. In March, three workers and two visitors were killed in an explosion in plot number V5 on board ‘China Discovery’.

Ironically, the Ministry of Environment and Forests itself gave a clean chit to Alang in its affidavit to the Supreme Court over Clemenceau. The affidavit mentioned that best standards are practiced at the yard.

On its part, the State Government is dithering. “We have submitted a plan regarding modernisation of Alang to the State Government. Once a decision is taken in this regard, we will start working on improving overall situation at Alang,” says Gujarat Maritime Board CEO H K Dash.

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On April 25, the European Parliament Open Hearing in Brussels initiated the dialogue with member states to ensure that their end-of-life ships are dismantled in Europe itself. The yards will be equipped with complete mechanisation in cutting. First of all, a thorough decontamination of the ships will be undertaken in a scientific manner and after that, dismantling will be done with latest technology.

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