Send back the Clémenceau

Picture Courtesy: Greenpeace

Current Issue.

One of my pet topics now. For the benefit of those wondering what Clemeanceau is click here. This is a huge ship that contains tonnes and tonnes of hazardous materials (Primarily asbestos) headed towards India from France to get scrapped on the beaches of Alang, Gujarat.

Greenpeace is doing its best to protest and stop this 27,000 tonnes of WMD before reaching Indian waters. They say it's a ship that died long back but does not stop killing. Click here and here for their partially successful (though temporary) efforts so far.

This is a ship that obviously nobody wants, which is evident from the various futile attempts earlier to get it scrapped as given here.

After repeated attempts in vein to get the ship scrapped, France is trying to send it to India to get the dirty work done and Greenpeace is protesting whereever it can on its way. Egypt seemed to heed the protests for a moment as it asked for proof to allow the passage of the ship. Supreme court of India issued a temporary block and ordered the ship to stay off Indian waters.

But unfortunately Egypt cleared (rather France successfully negotiated) the passage of the ship after holding it for few days. They probably did it since the ship is not an environmental headache for them. A shocking decision for all who cares for the environment. Now the ball is in the court of Government of India and the Supreme Court of India. Hope Indian government and SC deals it with a responsible manner now. The final verdict is supposed to be given on Feb 13th. So please act now by clicking on this Take Action link to support Greenpeace campaign from your end. For more updates on this story on day to day basis click here.

Long Term Issue.

And now irrespective of whatever happens in this issue the question is - Should India seriously reconsider moving / halting the huge Ship-breaking facility at Alang, Gujarat?

Alang is a place where more than half of the world's retired ships are broken / destructed for its valuable steel. As it brings out more employment opportunities, it's also an environmental and ecological hazard. Already India has a bad track-record in maintaining its natural resources. What should be our priority now? A job to thousands, economy or environment? A tricky question where it's not easy to get an answer.

Apart from the ecological system, the safety and health conditions of these relatively underpaid / poor workers are even at a greater risk. For reports related to main challenges to the to humanity and ecosystem visit the Greenpeace site or Unesco reports. Greenpeace even runs a video at their shipbreak homepage. Man I can't even imagine how bad environment it is for people to work on.

Solutions(???)

One way out in the interests of both economy and environment I believe is modernising the facilities that adheres to environmental standards. Unfortunately modernisation means more cost for the shipping companies. For example Greenpeace does talk highly of Pipayav yard in India. It's pathetic that Pipayav have to wait for orders. The situation of Pipayav yard, indicates that the shipping companies are not willing to pay more for Shipbreaking. They should also understand that modernisation costs them money too.

So the initiative I believe beyond Indian government's or for that matter beyond any ship-breaking countries government's reach. All involved has to co-operate. The Shipping companies, the shipbreaking facilities, the operators, Indian and all foriegn governments involved everyone should do their bit. Otherwise the money will be pumped in to yards like Pipayav and the ship owners will keep sending their ships to cheaper ones that does not adhere to environmental standards (as long as such facilities exist).

Despite modernisation, I think India and other South Asian countries can still win contracts the IT way - meaning cheap labour. But the shipping companies / countries also should understand that while the cost will be less than the West, it will go up than what they pay now for larger good.

Bottomline: Strike a balance between economy and environment, and make sure that environment gets its due.

References : Greenpeace and BBC