MediaVigil, Journal of Global Communications and Justice

1. Violating SC order, 53 ships beach at Alang In September, the SC passed an order that said ships would be given permission to beach only after they obtain a certificate saying that they were gas free for hot work New Delhi: Violating the Supreme Court’s September directive asking ships arriving in India to be scrapped to beach only after they meet a certain condition, 53 of them have beached at Gujarat’s Alang ship-breaking yard without doing so because the firms involved claim there is no clarity as to who will certify that they have met this condition. The Ship Recycling Industries Association (SRIA), an industry lobby group for ship recyclers, admitted this in an application to the court, which is hearing an ongoing litigation on hazardous waste. Ships have a certain lifespan after which their owners sell them as scrap. Ships need to be broken at ship-breaking yards such as the one at Alang before metal can be extracted from them. However, some of the ships contain gases and can ...

Violating court’s order, 30 ships beach without pre-cleaning The Hazardous Wastes/ship breaking case came up in the court today. Gopal Subramaniam, Additional Solicitor General was given eight weeks to respond to the applications pending before the court. Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, former Additional Solicitor General represented the SRIA sought an early hearing. It has come to light that in violation of apex court’s order, 30 ships have beached in Alang. Now Ship Recycling Industries Association (SRIA), India is seeking modification of the court’s order that was based on the recommendations of the Technical Experts Committee on Hazardous Wastes relating to Ship-breaking to ensure that these ships including Blue Lady gets dismantling permission. There are at four applications pending before the court in the wake of the September 6 and September 11, 2007 order by the Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S H Kapadia bench. The court had directed that "The notification issued by Gujarat...

Supreme Court is due to hear the matter of SS Norway (Blue Lady)on 22nd January 2007. There are two clarification applications pending before the court in the wake of the September 6 and September 11, 2007 order by the Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S H Kapadia bench. The Supreme Court had also directed Government of India to constitute a new Committee consisting of MoEF, GPCB, GMB, AERB that shall verify all the documents before ship is allowed for breaking. This committee is yet to be formed. European and Norwegian silence in the matter especially in the aftermath of Le Clemenceau precedent is deafening. br> On 7th January, 2008, UN delegates visited Alang and took pictures of SS Norway (Blue Lady) and proved both international and national media that had misreported that the ship has been dismantled wrong. Some 30 ships await permission from the apex court. Also Le Clemenceau has not been dismantled yet. It might get permission until the end of 2008. In Brest,...

Note: Gujarat state elections results have been declared. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come back in power in the state. In order to defeat BJP, among other efforts, Indian National Congress (INC) party had stressed that the ship-breaking industry, which declined during the BJP rule, would be revived if it is voted to power in its manifesto. It is noteworthy that the ship breakers had threatened to vote for Congress if Blue Lady (SS Norway, SS France) was not allowed dismantling permission. Bhavnagar, wherein Alang ship-breaking yard is situated falls under one of the two assembly constituencies of Bhavnagar North and Bhavnagar South. Alang Ship Recycling Yard is located 50 km southeast of Bhavnagar. Shaktisinh H. Gohil, the Congress candidate from Bhavnagar South, defeated the BJP candidate Jitubhai Vaghani. The Times of India reported on 17 December, 2007 that there are already 35 ships awaiting cutting permission from the government and 20 are on their way. On November...

Note: Are Hazardous Wastes and Hazardous Materials Synonymous? No, said Supreme Court and Basel Convention . Yes, says Ministry of Environment & Forests even as its proposed Hazardous Rules make India least resistant to global waste flow. Startled by the proposed Draft Hazardous Materials (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2007 of Ministry of Environment & Forests currently headed by the Prime Minister, environment and public health researchers and activists have termed it as a gross act of linguistic corruption to satiate hazardous waste traders' naked lust for profit. Unlike what is being attempted by the Ministry, the classification into hazardous waste is based on the system for the classification and labelling of dangerous substances and preparations, which ensures the application of similar principles over their whole life cycle. It is an effort to undo whatever good has been by the Supreme Court and its committees. The Draft Rules (available at...

Note: Vested interests who are working overtime to ensure that Star Cruise Limited escapes the decontamination cost of Blue Lady (SS Norway) continue to face trouble despite the exemplary efforts of some Indian officials of easy virtue. The Blue Lady case again came before the Supreme Court on 23 October, 2007. Gopal Subramaniam, the Additional Solicitor General mentioned that an application for clarification in the ship-breaking/Blue Lady matter regarding 6th September, 2007 and 11th September, 2007 has been received. In the application (that has critiqued the September 2007 order) it has also been submitted that despite the court's order specifically directing vide order dated 15.5.2007 that "Without claiming any equities, the ship breaking unit shall be permitted to remove oil from the ship under the supervision and guidance of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board and the Gujarat Maritime Board", the same has been violated in toto and in complete contempt of Court...