Affordable profit

Affordable profit

Le Clemenceau is undoubtedly big. It has dominated more than its fair share of media space. But it does deserve it. Not because of its scale or the fact that it is carrying asbestos, whether in its cargo or its structure. But that the Le Clemenceau's fate will set a precedent--an example which will set the tone for the future of shipbreaking in India and send a loud and clear message to the industrialised nations, for better or worse. It is definite that the warship is highlighting the weaknesses in the existing regulatory regime. The question now is, will Le Clemenceau will remain another case of one isolated ship that, whose issue is buried along with it. Or will Le Clemenceau pave the way for better burials but not of the environment or safety standards.

The next tide of end-of-life ships is almost on our shores now. And for as long as they will come, there will be hazardous waste in ships, either in its cargo or its structure. But right now, its decontamination, however essential, is viewed as an unnecessary issue by exporting countries. That has to change.

The tug-of-war between the imo and the Basel Convention shows that in the global arena, trade interests will dominate the environmental negotiations. The same countries which push for environmental legislation to protect their countries at the Basel meetings will protect their trade interest in the imo. It is therefore important for India to look at its own interest and balance its trade and environment issues.

It is also amply clear that India will have competitors who will be prepared to receive these toxic tubs much cheaper and in poorer environmental conditions than ours. And this is exactly where India needs to set its own house in order. If it wants to be part of this ship trade and it can then it must clean up the mess in Alang. It must, in fact, build confidence in green certification of its ship yards. Doing it cheaply and dirtily is not the answer.

And the Le Clemenceau burial on or off Indian shores will be a waste if we don't use this opportunity to clean up the mess in our waste trade. It is clear that India is becoming and will become the dumping ground if unchecked.

On the first go, the list of 29 prohibited waste items needs to be expanded, the definition of waste clarified and made consistent with the trade classification under the ministry of commerce. The window of waste dumping must be closed tightly so that under the guise of recycling, dumping does not happen. For this, all import needs to be tracked. Not just that, information on all importers, the purpose of the import and how they eventually get processed should be made public.

The confusion and lack of coordination between the departments dealing with trade (customs, port and commerce ministry) and those dealing with environmental issues (pollution control boards and moef) cannot be accepted as an explanation for foreign waste crowding our shores. Neither can the fact that the customs department, which is in-charge of checking imports, lacks technical capacity and infrastructure to do so. If the country does not have the capacity to be able to check waste import and its type, then there should be an outright ban. Others will dump on us if we allow it. And as India industrialises, it will look for dumping grounds to dump its own wastes on its own neighbors. This is unacceptable.

Waste is waste. Whether there or here, there is no confusion. India does not need to part the sea to answer this question. It just needs to draw clear lines, learn to say no and clear the muddy waters.

With inputs by Archi Rastogi 12jav.net12jav.net