Supreme Court permits dismantling of ship 'Blue Lady'

New Delhi, Sep 11 (UNI) The Supreme Court today permitted dismantling of Norwegian ship 'Blue Lady', containing hazardous waste, anchored at Alang port in Gujarat.

A bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and S H Kapadia, in its order, said,'' Since the court has accepted the report of the Tactical Expert Committee, we allow dismantling of the ship containing hazardous wastes mainly asbestos sheet, subject to the observation of safety measures recommended by the committee.'' Earlier in its judgement, the Supreme Court had laid down certain guidelines for permitting entry of ships or vessels carrying toxic substances. The most important being in future no ship would be allowed to enter the Indian territorial water unless and until its owner provided a certificate stating the ship had been fully decontaminated and did not carry any hazardous substance.

The Government was also required to certify that the ship did not carry any contaminants.

The order further contained that in future, no ship breaking would be allowed till all adequate measures have been taken to ensure the safety of workers and no damage to the environment, along with minimum possibility of pollution by adopting technically advanced methods.

The court has also directed the Government to attain International conventions on the issue to make themselves familiar with the latest techniques so that India did not become a dumping ground for hazardous wastes.

It may be noted that Bangladesh had refused entry to the ship due to which it remained stationed in International waters. It was later allowed to enter by the Indian authorities in 2006 which was challenged by the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Environment that wanted directions from the apex court to send back the ship.

UNI