No toxic materials on board Platinum II: Gujarat Govt

Gandhinagar, Oct 15 (ANI): The Gujarat Government on Friday gave a clean chit to the US ship Platinum-II, saying there were no toxic materials on board.

With this statement it's almost certain that Platinum -II, a Luxury Liner, would be dismantled at the Alang shipyard in Gujarat.

The Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), which examined the ship, said there was no hazardous or toxic material on-board the ship.

The GPCB said the ship's cargo includes high levels of asbestos, and some chemical paints, all of which can be safely treated at the Alang shipyard.

GPCB also said that the ship contains the materials online with the Supreme Court's guidelines.

On Thursday, the Union Government denied permission to Platinum- II to anchor at the Alang Ship breaking Yard and had asked the GPCB to submit a report about the materials, onboard the ship.

Earlier, pro environmental groups alleged that the ship is containing radioactive wastes and opposed its entry into the Gujarat coast.

A section of the media, suspected that the ship could be the SS Independence, which was earlier banned by the US Environment Protection Agency (USEPA).

The ship was reportedly renamed SS Oceanic which lay idle at Dubai for over a year before being rechristened as the Platinum - 2.

American authorities, earlier, fined two companies for moving the ship into international waters, without decontaminating it of toxic materials.

Time and again environmentalists alleging that India is being treated like a dump yard for radioactive materials by the first world countries.

The apex court has passed a ruling that ships should be allowed to be broken down in the country only after prior decontamination. (ANI)