ToxicsWatch, Journal of Earth, Science, Economy and Justice

Note: Vested interests who are working overtime to ensure that Star Cruise Limited escapes the decontamination cost of Blue Lady (SSNorway) 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's directions. The said waste oil has been sold. A strict view has to be taken of such conduct waste oil being removed from the ship and sold. The court observed that the matter would be taken up on the next date hearing after four weeks. The Division Bench Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S H Kapadia heard the matter. One official was heard informing a media person that they bought the ship from the Star Cruise, the original owner and not Hariyana Ship Demolitions Pvt Ltd.

(Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, the founder of Star Cruise, the Malaysian Genting Casino Group, the owner of Star Cruises Ltd passed away on 23 October at the age of 90. According to Forbes Asia, he was third richest in the country with a net worth of US$4.3billion. Lim had migrated from China's Fujian province in 1937 at the age of 19. )

Meanwhile on 24th October, 2007 an application has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions for exemption for Petroleum Safety Organisation (Formerly Department of Explosives) from its work in the ship-breaking industry following the Supreme Court orders of September 6 and September 11, 2007. As per the official announcement "Authority and Responsibilities of Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (Formerly Department of Explosives) includes "Examination of petroleum tanks in sea going vessels for issuing gas free certificates for allowing hot work, entry of man in such tanks and entry of such vessels in docks."

September 6, 2007 order of the Supreme Court noted that Petroleum Safety Organisation (Formerly Department of Explosives) is one of the agencies responsible for ensuring compliance with the regulations on ship-breaking. The order directed that "At anchorage, the ship would be boarded by representatives of Explosives Department and Atomic Energy Regulatory Board among others to verify the submissions/data provided for desk review… For oil tankers, Gas Free and Fit for Hot Working certificate should also be submitted in respect of oil cargo tanks and sloptanks."

The order laid down the guidelines Ship Specific Dismantling Plan saying "Before starting the recycling process, the recycler should submit a Dismantling Plan to the authorities, which should include g) "Gas-free and fit for hot work" certificate issued by the Department of Explosives, or any competent agency authorized by the Department of Explosives" besides other requirements. The court further directed that "The notification issued by Gujarat Maritime Board in 2001 on gas free for hot work, should be made mandatory and no ship should be given a beaching permission unless this certificate is shown. Any explosion irrespective of the possession of certification should be dealt with sternly and the licence of the plot-holder should be cancelled and the Explosives Inspector should be prosecuted accordingly for giving the false certificate."

The September 11, 2007 reiterated, "'Gas-free and fit for hot work' certificate issued by the Department of Explosives, or any competent agency authorized by the Department of Explosives" as one of the key requirements." "Gas-free for hot work" Certificate is mandatory for the seller of tankers before such ships are handed over to the recycling yard. Such certificates have to be obtained from the last port of call based on certificate issued by the classification society. Also "Gas-Free for hot work" inspection must be done at the Shipbreaking facility just prior to cutting and other work to ensure that no build-up of gases from unknown sources has occurred. Following the September order, industry sources revealed that the corruption rate in Alang has increased from Rs 50, 000 to Rs 4 Lakh per ship. Ministry of Environment officials has played a key role in letting the hazardous waste laden ships to enter Indian waters with impunity although the Ministry is directly under the Prime Minister even as Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss, the Union Health Minister has condemned such practices in the case of dumping of hazardous wastes in Kochi asserting that India cannot be made a "dumping ground". This practice has also been criticized by Kerela Government. Unlike Gujarat Pollution Control Board, on October 18, 2007, G Rajmohan, Kerala Pollution Control Board recommended to the Customs authorities that the shipments be sent back to the place of origin. There was no question of allowing the prohibited and objectionable material in the country. A showcause notice has been issued to the importer and action would be taken under the relevant customs act. Gujarat authorities should learn from their counterparts in Kerela.

It is noteworthy that Md. Badron Bin Ismail, the Director of the Malaysian "Safety Navigation Division & Peninsular Malaysian Marine Department" wrote that Star Cruise Limited advised the Malaysian authority that SS Blue Lady (SS Norway) was heading for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to be repaired, obviously the truth was the ship had already been sold to the breakers. Malaysia was misled and taken for a ride. It must act now and seek clarification from the ship owners.

The news report suggesting that dismantling of Blue Lady has begun is far from the truth.

In fact it is an effort by the cash buyers to tell the interested ship owners that things have not come to a standstill at Alang. This is to ensure the flow of obsolete ships at Alang. Did the reporter in question speak to the villagers from the adjoining villagers to verify the version of the ship-breakers? Is the reporter aware that an application has been moved in the Supreme Court on 4th October, 2007 informing the court that there no decontamination of Blue Lady ship till date as per the court order of September 11, 2007.

The ship-breakers have not even claimed that they have decontaminated the ship. It appears to be a planted story. In fact it is an effort by the cash buyers to tell the interested ship owners that things have not come to a standstill at Alang. This is to ensure the flow of obsolete ships at Alang.

The reasoning presented before the court was an exercise in sophistry. If sustainable development is the reason then why do judges say " Lastly, we may point out that there is no dispute that on 15/16.8.2006 the vessel beached off Alang coast. It is not in dispute that the process of beaching is irreversible." (Supreme Court order Para 14, 11.9.2007)

Their main but insincere reasoning is that it will give jobs to 700 workers and 41, 000 tonne of steel. The real number is 300 workers. But mere 41, 000 tonne is of not at all of significance since India is the world's largest producer of direct reduced iron (DRI) or sponge iron and is the seventh largest steel producer in the world with an overall production of about 40 mt in 2006 . Three-fold rise in steel production capacity to 120 million tonne is going to make the second-largest steel producer in the world in very near future.

Dismantling plan submitted by Priya Blue Shipping Ltd to the Technical Experts Committee (TEC) is simply a paper work that has failed to inform the court as to what it would do for PCBs, incineration ash, ballast water, radioactive material, Lead and other heavy metals.

Given the fact that there are casual and migrant workers, the commitment to protect workers is not at all credible. Safe handling of asbestos is not possible, it requires a Astronaut's dress that is not possible to work in heat...in any case even the TEC report has noted that these safety gears are provided to workers only when inspection team visits Alang yards.

Riky, the Danish ship has been dismantled and the matter is pending before this very bench but they have decided not to hear the matter so far although it preceded the present ship but showed inexplicable exemplary speed in dealing with Blue Lady.

It is quite well known that as long as Gujarat Maritime Board the supervising authority, there would be no safety for the workers and the villagers.


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By every rule in the book, this ship, carrying asbestos waste and radioactive elements, should not be in Indian waters, let alone be beached. And yet, despite well-premised objections, the central government persuaded the Supreme Court to rule that Blue Lady be dismantled at Alang.

On 6 September and 11 September, two related judgments in the matter of shipbreaking and hazardous waste were issued by the Supreme Court.
The Division Bench of Justice Dr Arijit Pasayat and Justice S H Kapadia delivered both the orders. This was the same Bench that was seized with the Le Clemenceau case.

The first order is a general order on the issue of ship-breaking. The second order was with specific reference to status of the Blue Lady (formerly SS Norway) -- a ship with known dangers: asbestos and radioactive material, and without clear papers -- currently beached at the Alang shipyard in Gujarat.

This order gave a go ahead to dismantling of the Blue Lady. Dismantling the Blue Lady exposes the mostly Bhojpuri and Oriya speaking causal and migrant workers and the villagers of Bhavnagar panchayats near Alang to toxic exposures. It also threatens their source of livelihood -- fishing due -- to marine pollution. By the government's own admission - a report of technical experts on shipbreaking -- the underground water in Alang is heavily polluted.

The ship-breaking industry is already known to have a higher accident rate (2 workers per 1000) than the mining industry (0.34 per 1000). This is considered the worst in the world, and 16 per cent of workers here are suffering asbestos related diseases. In its order on 11 September, the Honourable Supreme Court advanced "The concept of "balance" under the principle of proportionality applicable in the case of sustainable development…" and ruled that: "It cannot be disputed that no development is possible without some adverse effect on the ecology and environment, and the projects of public utility cannot be abandoned and it is necessary to adjust the interest of the people as well as the necessity to maintain the environment. A balance has to be struck between the two interests. Where the commercial venture or enterprise would bring in results which are far more useful for the people, difficulty of a small number of people has to be bypassed. The comparative hardships have to be balanced and the convenience and benefit to a larger section of the people has to get primacy over comparatively lesser hardship."

The apex court ruled this way even though it also did not dispute that the entry of Blue Lady in Indian territorial waters and its continued presence since June 2006 was itself in violation of court's own order of 14 October 2003. It was also in violation of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, and a number of other international environmental and labour conventions and treaties -- that govern the breaking of contaminated ships - to all of which India is a signatory.

In the 11 September order, the honourable justices refer to former the Attorney General of UK saying, "In his Keynote Address, on 'Global Constitutionalism', reported in Stanford Law Review vol. 59 at p. 1155, Lord Goldsmith, Her Majesty's Attorney General (UK), stated that British Constitution though unwritten is based on three principles, namely, rule of law, commitment to fundamental freedoms and principle of proportionality. European Convention on Human Rights ("ECHR") also refers to the concept of balance."


The 21-page keynote address of Lord Goldsmith has this paragraph that has been referred to in the apex court's order. It reads as follows: "The third principle is that of proportionality. One of the key themes of the ECHR is the concept of balance. The Convention took its lead in this respect from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights-and in particular, article 29 which expressly recognises the duties of everyone to the community and the limitation on rights in order to secure and protect respect for the rights of others.

Under the Convention some rights are absolute. They are so fundamental that there can be no compromise on them. We take the view that the prohibition on torture is simply nonnegotiable. I regard the right to a fair trial as another of those fundamentals. That is why we have rejected reducing the burden of proof for terrorism offences and allowing secret evidence in terrorism trials."

It is shocking to note that Goldsmith's speech in question does not appear at all to be relevant to the plight of workers, villagers, environment, ship-breaking industry, steel or hazardous wastes management. Therefore, it cannot be a convincing rationale for knowingly letting a most vulnerable workforce and communities suffer from asbestos and radioactive exposure that will arise from breaking up the Blue Lady.

Verified threat of hazardous waste on-board - radioactive elements

The bench granted permission for the dismantling based on the submission by Gopal Subramaniam, the Additional Solicitor General, to the effect that the ship does not have any more radioactive material and beaching is irreversible. But contrary to the recommendations of the Technical Experts Committee on Hazardous Wastes relating to Ship-breaking, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Enviro Protection and Infrastructure Ltd, (GEPIL) and the ship's current owner Priya Blue Shipping Pvt Ltd., the ship does contain radioactive substances at thousands of places. In the order passed the apex court merely states, "There was also an apprehension rightly expressed by the petitioner regarding radioactive material on board the vessel Blue Lady. Therefore, an immediate inspection of the said vessel beached at Alang since 16.8.2006 was undertaken by Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and by Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB). The apprehension expressed by the petitioner was right. However, as the matter stands today, AERB and GMB have certified that the said vessel Blue Lady beached in Alang no more contains any radioactive material on board the ship."

What changed?

A perusal of the report of the inspection undertaken on 14 August 2007 shows that the entire inspection of 16 floors of 315 meter long ship seems to have been completed within a period of 4 hours (a commendable task no doubt) and the report states that they could detect only 12 smoke detectors containing Americium 241. Having found these 12 smoke detectors containing radioactive materials, the report concludes that the ship "now, does not contain any radioactive material on board".

In my petition, I had referred to a letter sent by one Tom Haugen (who had been the Project Manager for Engineering, Delivery, Installation, Commissioning and later services and upgrades as regards Fire Detection Installation Systems on-board the Blue Lady). Haugen had written to Meena Gupta, Chairman of the Technical Experts Committee (by virtue of being the Secretary at the Ministry of Environment) that the fire detection system on the Blue Lady contained 5500 detection points which included 1100 ion smoke detectors that use radioactive elements composed of Americium 241.

Further, in a separate letter to the Prime Minister dated 19 September 2007, Haugen has reiterated the fact about the enormity of radioactive material on the ship given that he himself supervised its installation. Countering the AERB-GMB report that that ship did not contain any radioactive material after their inspection, Haugen wrote that in most cases, the fire detection systems are not labeled or indicated in any way, as they are typically 'buried' out of sight. According to Haugen, due to the risk of hazardous radioactive exposure, they should only be handled by professionals or certified technicians. "The system and its detectors are very subtly placed and virtually completely hidden in most parts, so it is totally understandable that a non-expert team might miss it during a broader inspection of the vessel," wrote Haugen.

In fact, even though the Technical Experts Committee had put in its 2006 report that there was no radioactive material on the ship, one of the Committee's members Dr Virendra Misra of the Industrial Toxicology Research Centre, Lucknow, had disagreed with the findings. He wrote that, "Presence of radioactive materials should be ascertained well in advance. Though it is mentioned in the report that radioactive material is not available, in my opinion there is possibility of the presence of radioactive materials due to existence of liquid level indicators and smoke detectors on the ship." This was ignored by TEC's then chairman, Prodipto Ghosh. The final report of the Technical Committee was signed by only Ghosh.

All of this is in the records of the apex court. But Additional Solicitor General Subramaniam persuaded the apex court to rely on the report of the Prodipto Ghosh-led Technical Experts Committee. (Ghosh was Secretary at the Environment Ministry and Chairman of the Committee. He has since retired, and his post has been taken over by Meena Gupta.) This is a report that had submitted that there is no radioactive material on the ship, as noted earlier. But following the submission of Tom Haugen's letter to the apex court and our request to the AERB, the AERB team inspected the ship.

As noted earlier, it concluded that there are only 12 equipments that have radioactive material in it. Subramaniam was then compelled to partially admit in the hearing to the presence of radioactive material on Blue Lady. But the fact is that there are still over one thousand such equipments in the ship and Haugen has the diagram showing the locations of the equipment. Verified threat of hazardous waste on-board - asbestos On the asbestos present in the ship, the court also heard ingenious arguments advanced by the learned Additional Solicitor General Subramaniam that, "In the present case, the vessel does not contain single kilogram of asbestos and/or ACM as cargo". It had never been the stand of the plaintiff that asbestos or Asbestos Containing Material (ACM) was being sought to be brought in as cargo. Asbestos is already built into the ship's structure.

The question of differentiating between inbuilt material carrying asbestos and asbestos cargo had infact already been addressed by a Parliamentary Committee. The Parliamentary Committee on Petitions, on 17 August 2007, issued its report in response to the matter being raised in Lok Sabha by Basudev Acharya (CPI (M), Bankura, West Bengal). Acharya, a senior parliamentarian, had petitioned the Committee, arguing that Blue Lady's entry violates India's sovereignty. Incidentally, the Environment Ministry did give oral evidence before this Committee, but did not disclose the radioactive content of the ship.

The Parliamentary Committee, chaired by Prabhunath Singh (MP-Janata Dal (United), Maharajganj, Bihar), in its response, noted that it was extremely concerned that the ship contains an estimated 1240 MT of ACM and about 10 MT of PCBs as inbuilt material and as a part of its structure. The committee recognised that asbestos fibers when inhaled or when the PCBs on-board are consumed by human beings, the same may cause cancer unless proper precautions are taken for safe handling of these materials by the workers. The report then got into issue of asbestos in the cargo vs. structure, virtually indicting the government: "The committee strongly deprecate (sic) the repeated stand taken by the ministry that since no hazardous waste have been allowed on boards as cargo, there is no violation of the Hon'ble Supreme Court directions. The Committee need not emphasize that hazardous waste whether as cargo or inbuilt material are equally detrimental to the environment and to the human health."

Earlier Kalraj Mishra (MP-BJP, Lucknow), member of the Parliamentary Committee on Industry, had asserted that the French ship Le Clemenceau was sent back, and the Blue Lady, being 50 times more toxic than the Le Clemenceau, should therefore also be sent back. It appears that the Supreme Court has accepted that 85 per cent of the asbestos, contained in the form of wall partitions, ceilings and the roofing in rooms and galleries in the ship, did not pose a risk if those parts were removed without damaging them. But no mention seems to have been made as regards the balance 15 per cent of the asbestos contained on the Blue Lady, which in itself would come to 186 metric tonnes. Removal of this asbestos is bound to cause grave risks of asbestosis, mesothelioma, lung cancer and other related illnesses to workers.

In my petition, I brought to the notice of the apex court that asbestos waste is banned in India and asbestos itself is banned in some 45 countries and even the World Trade Organisation had passed a verdict against it because of its carcinogenicity at every level of exposure. There is indisputable evidence that safe and controlled use of asbestos is impossible. Despite this, the Additional Solicitor General Subramaniam argued, "Safe use and controlled use of asbestos is possible in India." He said that asbestos waste in the structure of the ship was not hazardous and asserted that asbestos waste is banned in India but that applies to 'virgin' asbestos waste!

The Hon'ble Supreme Court has not yet dealt with the application filed by Bhagvatsinh Haluba Gohil, Sarpanch, Village Sosiya, Tehsil Talaja, and District Bhanvnagar on behalf of 30, 000 villagers and 12 panchayats of Bhavnagar district of Gujarat. The villages are in the vicinity of Alang ship-breaking yard. They sought directions asking the court to "direct that the ship named "Blue Lady" (SS Norway) be not allowed to be dismantled at the Alang Ship-breaking yard." The villagers have argued that "The dismantling of the ship would have hazardous effect on the residents of the villages near the Alang ship breaking yard as the ship contains large amount of asbestos which, when exposed is hazardous to the health of the residents living in the twelve villages."

In August 2006, an acclaimed scientist, a former Union Minister, Prof M G K Menon, and the Chairman of the Supreme Court's High Power Committee on Hazardous Wastes, had written to the Chief Justice of India and argued that the Blue Lady should be sent back to Malaysia or Germany from where it had come without decontamination. Faulty argument on a beached ship not being refloatable There's more. Allen Todd Busch, Vice President and General Manager, Titan Salvage, a Crowley Company, and one of the largest and most respected salvage companies, also wrote to the Prime Minister. He said, "The primary reason the court has ruled in favour of breaking the vessel, in its current position, is because there is a belief that the vessel can not be removed from where it now rests." Busch disagreed with that premise. He wrote that his firm had the capability and expertise to refloat the vessel. "Please allow us to present to the Prime Minister and India's Court our credentials, history and experience that there is actually very high probability that the BLUE LADY is not at all in an "irreversible" position, as the esteemed Court has found," wrote Busch. Also the firm Aaage Anderson, which was involved in the Le Clemenceau case, has said in a technical memo that the Blue Lady can be refloated.

Even as it was becoming clearer that the Blue Lady (SS Norway, SS France) can be sent back, the Additional Solicitor General Subramaniam led the court into believing that since beaching is irreversible, that the Blue Lady cannot be sent back. But the Blue Lady, as noted earlier and in previous articles, is illegal traffic as per all relevant laws. There is documentary proof that such ships are required certification for prior decontamination of the ship in the country of export.

In the case of Blue Lady let alone decontaminating the ship as per the court's order, it has till date not even been claimed that it has been decontaminated. Dangerous precedent for globalisation of waste The list goes on and on. I had also pointed in my petition before the honourable court that the "Prior Informed Consent" convention -- which has been accepted in the Rio Declaration, Basel Convention, Cartegena Protocol, Rotterdam Convention, and the Stockholm Convention, had also been incorporated in Hazardous Wastes Rules 1989. As per this principle, no member state can send hazardous waste to a developing country without its prior consent. This has not been followed in the case of the Blue Lady. Another important convention -- that has been violated -- is that a ship ought to be decontaminated prior to its export for dismantling, which view has been expressed earlier by the apex court itself.

Dismantling of the Blue Lady would set a dangerous precedent. Hazardous and poisonous material does not become non-hazardous and non-poisonous merely because the government - the Environment Ministry and Additional Solicitor General -- assert so. The Blue Lady story shows how hazardous industries, substances, wastes are being transferred to India in full public glare due to the connivance of Indian authorities who have compelled the highest court to decide matters on technical and humanitarian grounds (the original permission to beach the ship in 2006 was given on humanitarian grounds owing to inclement weather) rather than on a legal basis. Even though the toxic ship Le Clemenceau
was recalled in early 2006 on a verdict by a French court, the Blue Lady story only exposes the conflicted European position on ship-breaking and asbestos. Germany has condoned the Blue Lady's violation of Basel Convention - the contaminated ship left its shores in 2005 - to stay unreversed. This has in turn allowed the ship owners to successfully escape exorbitant decontamination cost in Europe. ⊕

This article has been published at:http://www.indiatogether.org/2007/oct/env-bluelady.htm

To

Ms. Meena Gupta
Secretary
Ministry of Environment & Forests
Government of India

Sub. : Comments on hazardous waste trade related to shipbreaking and guidelines on e-Waste

Dear Mrs. Gupta,

This is to bring to your attention to the trend of waste of all kinds following the path of least resistance. After hazardous wastes, now municipal and hospital wastes too is being dumped in our country. It is not that we did not know about it but the condemnation from the Union Health Minister makes it noteworthy.

The action of Kerela Government and condemnation by the Union Health Ministry makes a case for merger of Union Environment Ministry with it because it is more concerned about the environmental health of the citizens.

Our country is confronted with the huge problem of e-waste - both locally generated and internationally imported. While there has been initiatives to set regulations for hazardous wastes and e-waste management they have typically remained paperwork because of lack of enforcement of safeguards.

The guidelines by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to manage e-waste does show that you are seized with the matter but although we are likely to generate 800,000 tonnes of electronic waste by 2012, it has been decided not to enact specific e-waste legislation and chosen to formulate guidelines instead. While the guidelines have very detailed technical recommendations, the problem is the less of technology but more of institutional arrangements for waste to be collected, recycled, finally treated or disposed off using a take back mechanism. In such a scenario, it is of utmost importance that a separate set of rules such as Electronic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules be set up for this purpose given the fact that e-waste has scattered generation besides registered waste generations such as industry.

Although the custom officials of the Kochi port deserve appreciation unlike the officials at Alang port in Gujarat who have continued to let hazardous waste enter Indian waters with impunity. In Kochi three containers sent from New York based Belsun Corporation in the name of recycling had medical wastes, municipal, surgical, bio-medical and even e-waste. Meanwhile Kerala government has sought the immediate return to its port of origin three containers carrying urban waste, which arrived at the Kochi Port from the US. P.K. Sreemathy. Kerela Health Minister has asked the Customs authorities to return the containers and initiate legal proceedings against the Kochi-based company that had imported it.

Like Kochi at Alang port too the ship named Blue Lady (SS Norway) that was allowed anchorage on humanitarian grounds admittedly has huge amount of hazardous wastes like asbestos waste, radioactive material, incineration ash, ballast water, PCBs, heavy metals but due to the lame and hollow excuse of supposed irreversibility of the ship offered by Gopal Subramaniam, Additional Solicitor General, it remains there. Although Prof. MGK Menon, Chairman, High Power Committee on Hazardous Wastes had recommended that it should be sent back. In this case the company in question is Star Cruise Ltd that has so far successfully attempted to escape its decontamination cost in the aftermath of boiler explosion of 2003 in Miami.

In March 2007, Bhagvatsinh Haubha Gohil, Sarpanch of Sosiya, Tehsil Talaja, Gujarat filed an application on behalf of 12 Sarpanchs and 30, 000 people who live within the distance of 1 to 25 Kms. from the ship breaking yard at Alang before Hon’ble Chief Justice Balakrishnan bench who listed the matter for hearing before the Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S H Kapadia bench in the Blue Lady case but the same was not heard till date. These people largely depend on seafood that is under threat from ship-breaking. The ship in question contains large amount of asbestos that poses huge risk of exposure to the villagers. Their application is yet to be heard although final orders were passed on 11th September, 2007. The 45 year old, 315-metre long and 16-storey asbestos laden toxic ship still has radioactive material at more than 1000 places. A clarification application filed on 4th October, 2007 is pending before the apex court.

As per Union Environment Secretary headed Technical Experts Committee constituted by the Joint Secretary, Mr R K Vais as per apex court’s order noted that the hazardous waste generating ship-breaking industry is already known to have a higher accident rate (2 workers per 1000) than the mining industry (0.34 per 1000). This is considered the worst in the world, and 16 % of workers here are suffering asbestos related diseases. Since 1995, Environment Ministry has been guilty of numerous acts of omission and commission that endangers environmental health. It is the respondent in the hazardous wastes case and has been fined by the apex court for dereliction of duty.
By not hearing the matter of gross illegality committed by Riky, the Danish ship and by condoning the entry of Blue Lady in Indian territorial waters in violation of court's own orders of 14 October 2003 and 6th September, 2007 all relevant international laws such as Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal has been violated besides international labour conventions and treaties -- that govern the breaking of contaminated ships - to all of which India is a signatory. In order to ensure safe ship-breaking activity, the following mandatory guidelines for protecting the environmental and occupational health is proposed:-
1. Ship breaking activity must operate under the clear mandate for the decontamination (pre-cleaning) of ships of their hazardous substances including asbestos, radioactive material, waste oils, gases and both solid and liquid PCB contaminated material and any other substances covered by the Basel Convention prior to imports for breaking.
2. If the ship breaking facility is not deemed by the country of import, or the country of export as possessing the capability for “Environmentally Sound Management” then import/export must be prohibited. Exporting country can be the country where a ship owner is located, a port state, or the flag state.
3. Parties to the Convention shall prohibit trade in hazardous wastes between themselves and non-Parties without a special bi/multilateral Agreement. Thus a Basel Party cannot import an “end-of-life hazardous ship” from a non-Basel Party without a special bi/multilateral agreement.
4. A Basel Party wishing to export a ship containing hazardous materials for scrapping must first notify and then receive consent from recipient country prior to export. Prior Informed Consent (PIC) paperwork is required including a notification indicating that the ship does not contain any hazardous or radioactive substances onboard. Such a notification will require full sampling and testing of various onboard materials.
5. The ship should be properly decontaminated by the ship owner prior to export for its breaking. This should be ensured by the government agency. Basel Parties in Annex VII must prohibit the export of “end-of-life hazardous ships” to non-Annex VII countries such as Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, or China.
6. Waste generated by the ship breaking process should be classified into hazardous (unreported) and non-hazardous categories, and their quantity should be made known to the concerned authority.
7. All waste management activities should be in accordance with the Basel Convention Guideline on the Full and Partial Dismantlement of Ships.
8. Disposal of hazardous waste materials such as oils, asbestos, PCB contaminated material, etc. should be accomplished in a proper manner. PCB contaminated material must be disposed of in accordance with the facilities and norms and guidelines established under the Basel and Stockholm Conventions with no generation of persistent organic pollutants, and complete containment of all gaseous, liquid and solid residues for analysis and, if needed, reprocessing. Such disposed of material should be isolated and storedin a specified placed earmarked and designed for this purpose. Special care must be taken in the handling of asbestos wastes, and total quantities of such waste should be made known to the concerned authorities. Under no circumstances should asbestos, or asbestos or PCB material be recycled.
9. The ship breaking industries should be given authorisation and renewal only if an industry has facilities for disposal of waste in environmentally sound manner.
10. The government agency should insist that all quantities of waste oil, sludge and other similar mineral oils and paints chips are carefully removed and contained during the entire breaking process and taken immediately to safely designed, and contained storage areas outside the beach, for safe disposal. Proper containment means that barriers exist between the environment and the hazardous ship material at all times.
11. There should be immediate ban of open burning of any material whether hazardous or non-hazardous. Burning of plastics and treated woods will likely create dangerous persistent organic pollutants such as dioxins and furans.
12. The plots where no activities are being currently conducted should not be allowed to commence any fresh ship breaking activity unless they have necessary authorization.
13. Government agency should ensure continuous monitoring of ambient air and noise level as per the standards fixed. It must install proper equipment and infrastructure for analysis to enable it to conduct first level inspection of hazardous material, radio-active substances.
14. The continuation or expansion of the ship breaking operations should be permitted subject to compliance with the all recommendations for ship breakers found herein.
15. “Gas-free for hot work” Certificate: “Gas-free for hot work certificate is mandatory for the seller of tankers before such ships are handed over to the recycling yard. Such certificates have to be obtained from the last port of call based on certificate issued by the classification society. No ship should be given a beaching permission unless Gas Free for Hot Work certificate is shown. Any explosion irrespective of the possession of certification should be dealt sternly and the license of the plot holder should be cancelled and Explosives inspector should be prosecuted accordingly for giving false certificate.
16. An additional, second, “Gas-Free for hot work” inspection must be done at the Shipbreaking facility just prior to cutting and other work to ensure that no build-up of gases from unknown sources has occurred.
17. Officials should visit sites at regular intervals so that the plot owners know that these institutions are serious about improvement in operational standards.
18. Avoid seepage of oil or sludge: No tanker should be permitted to be dismantled or lightened or discharge anything in the sea or seabed away from shore, prior to docking or beaching. This is necessary to avoid seepage of oil or sludge in the sea.
19. From labour safety point of view: Insurance for workers must be made mandatory before breaking permission is granted.
20. All operations must be conducted in accordance with the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Guideline on Shipbreaking.
21. Use of Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs) by workers: Use of PPEs such as helmets, safety shoes, welding goggles, safety belt with safety line, hand gloves, self contained safety apparatus, respirators and masks etc. of relevant recommendation or standard must be made mandatory and the workers should be trained for using such equipment. The authorities must ensure use of PPEs by the workers for their safety.
22. Gas detectors: Use of gas detectors also must be made compulsory. Workers should be properly trained on the use of the gas detectors. Gas detectors should be kept ready for use duly calibrated. Their use should be properly monitored and implemented.
23. Fire fighting equipments with adequate water storage and adequate space for easy movement should be provided in the recycling facility.
24. Working hours should be specified and the operation should be carried out only during daytime.
25. Breaking operation should be allowed to commence only after removal of all kinds of petroleum products such as oil, fuel in tank etc. and gas, including CO2 gas of the ship.
26. Ship recycler shall not be allowed to throw into the sea any waste materials such as oil cakes, dead cargo of inorganic stuff like hydrated/solidified cement, thermocol pieces, asbestos, PCB contaminated material, pait residues, wooden pieces, rubber pieces, scrap iron and other metallic pieces, glass wool, rubber pipes and gaskets, PVC pipelines and pieces of PVC sheets but shall ensure that such waste materials are collected in secured storage facility.
27. The above measures apply to both private vessels and decommissioned government owned vessels and all future national and international laws must only stipulate provisions, which are not less environmentally sound than those contained herein.

With regard to e-waste, there is an urgent necessity of proper management therefore following is suggested for consideration:

1. Promulgate an all-embracing national E-waste Management law, and an all-encompassing policy.
2. Initiate the process for complete national level assessment, covering all the cities and all the sectors.
3. Promote Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities in schools, colleges, industry etc. to enhance the knowledge base on E-waste management.
4. Formulate and regulate occupational health safety norms for the E-waste recycling, now mainly confined to the informal sector.
5. Review the trade policy and exim classification codes to plug the loopholes often being misused for cross-border dumping of E-waste into India.
6. Insist on stringent enforcement against wanton infringement of Basel convention and E-waste dumping by preferring incarceration over monetary penalties for demonstrating deterrent impact.
7. Enforce labeling of all computer monitors, television sets and other household/industrial electronic devices for declaration of hazardous material contents with a view to identifying environmental hazards and ensuring proper material management and E-waste disposal.
8. Act to enforce on the lines of EU’s RoHS Directive that stands for "the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment". This Directive bans the placing on the EU market of new electrical and electronic equipment containing more than agreed levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants.
9. Announce incentives for growth of E-waste disposal agencies so that remediation of environmental damage, threats of irreversible loss and lack of scientific knowledge do not anymore pose hazards to human health and environment.
10. Introduce producer responsibility into Indian process, practices and procedures so that preventive accountability gains preponderance over polluter immunity.

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely

Waste follows the path of least resistance

After hazardous wastes, now its municipal & hospital wastes. It is not that we did not know about it but the condemnation from the Union Health Minister is noteworthy since it shows how waste is flowing from the North to South as a global trend.

This underlines the importance of Prior Informed Consent. Although the custom officials of the Kochi port deserve appreciation unlike the officials at Alang port in Gujarat who have continued to let hazardous waste enter Indian waters with impunity. In Kochi three containers sent from New York based Belsun Corporation in the name of recycling had medical wastes, municipal, surgical, bio-medical and even e-waste. It is noteworthy that although India is expected to generate 800,000 tonnes of electronic waste by 2012, Congress Party led Central Government has decided not to enact specific e-waste legislation and chosen to formulate guidelines instead.

Meanwhile Kerala government has sought the immediate return to its port of origin three containers carrying urban waste, which arrived at the Kochi Port from the US. P.K. Sreemathy. Kerela Health Minister has asked the Customs authorities to return the containers and initiate legal proceedings against the Kochi-based company that had imported it. The Minister said the State government would write to the Union Commerce Ministry regarding the incident and seek appropriate measures from its side to ensure that such incidents did not recur.

Like Kochi at Alang port too the ship named Blue Lady (SS Norway) that was allowed anchorage on humanitarian grounds admittedly has huge amount of hazardous wastes likes asbestos waste, radioactive material, incineration ash, ballast water, PCBs, heavy metals but due to the lame and hollow excuse of supposed irreversibility of the ship offered by Gopal Subramaniam, Additional Solicitor General, it remains there. Although Prof. MGK Menon, Chairman, High Power Committee on Hazardous Wastes had recommended that it should be sent back. In this case the company in question is Star Cruise Ltd that has so far successfully attempted to escape its decontamination cost in the aftermath of boiler explosion of 2003 in Miami.

In March 2007, Bhagvatsinh Haubha Gohil, Sarpanch of Sosiya, Tehsil Talaja, Gujarat filed an application on behalf of 12 Sarpanchs and 30, 000 people who live within the distance of 1 to 25 Kms. from the ship breaking yard at Alang before Justice Balakrishnan bench who listed the matter for hearing before the Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S H Kapadia bench in the Blue Lady case but the same was not heard till date. These people largely depend on seafood that is under threat from ship-breaking. The ship in question contains large amount of asbestos that poses huge risk of exposure to the villagers. Their application is yet to be heard although final orders were passed on 11th September, 2007. The 45 year old, 315-metre long and 16-storey asbestos laden toxic ship still has radioactive material at more than 1000 places. A clarification application filed on 4th October, 2007 is pending before the apex court.

The hazardous waste generating ship-breaking industry is already known to have a higher accident rate (2 workers per 1000) than the mining industry (0.34 per 1000). This is considered the worst in the world, and 16 per cent of workers here are suffering asbestos related diseases. In its order on 11 September, the Supreme Court advanced "The concept of "balance" under the principle of proportionality applicable in the case of sustainable development…" and ruled that: "It cannot be disputed that no development is possible without some adverse effect on the ecology and environment, and the projects of public utility cannot be abandoned and it is necessary to adjust the interest of the people as well as the necessity to maintain the environment. A balance has to be struck between the two interests. Where the commercial venture or enterprise would bring in results which are far more useful for the people, difficulty of a small number of people has to be bypassed. The comparative hardships have to be balanced and the convenience and benefit to a larger section of the people has to get primacy over comparatively lesser hardship." This is the logic advanced by Union Environment Ministry that makes India a dumping ground of the developed countries. At least since 1995, this Ministry has been guilty of numerous acts of omission and commission that endangers environmental health. It is the respondent in the hazardous wastes case and has been fined by the apex court for dereliction of duty.

By not hearing the matter of gross illegality committed by Riky, the Danish ship and by condoning the entry of Blue Lady in Indian territorial waters in violation of court's own orders of 14 October 2003 and 6th September, 2007 all relevant international laws such as Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal has been violated besides international labour conventions and treaties -- that govern the breaking of contaminated ships - to all of which India is a signatory. The condemnation by the Union Health Ministry makes a case for merger of Union Environment Ministry with it because it is more concerned about the environmental health of the citizens.

CPI (M) led Kerela Government’s strict action against hazardous waste trade is in sharp contrast to the indulgent and supportive role for such trade given by BJP led Gujarat Government and Congress led Central Government.

In an effort to save Yamuna, Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) should learn from the Assam Pollution Control Board that has issued a directive for retrieval of Durga idol structures after immersion in the Brahmaputra. This was needed to lessen pollution load due to immersion.

The idol immersion in water bodies is the social ritual followed immediately after the Dushehra celebrations. At the end of the festival, the idols are taken into processions to various ghats of River Yamuna for immersion in river water. The immersion of worship idols in Yamuna River after Dushehra is done from upstream Wazirabad to downstream Okhla barrage at Ramghat, ISBT and Okhla in Delhi stretch of River Yamuna.

The idols are made up of plaster of paris, clay, and cloth supported by small iron rods, and are coloured with different types of paint such as varnish and watercolours. When immersed, these coloured chemicals dissolve slowly leading to significant alteration in the water quality.

Thousands of idols of various sizes reaching heights up to 45 to 50 feet are immersed in the water bodies at the immersion sites. Magnesium, molybdenum and silicon concentrations also increases significantly in the lake water after the idol immersion that increases the hardness of water. Over the years, the average concentration of heavy metals, especially arsenic, lead and mercury has also increased considerably in the lake water compared to the specifications of highest desirable limits as set by BIS and ICMR standards.

The concentration of arsenic, a noxious trace element, has increases several fold in the lake water after the idol immersion, compared to its BIS and ICMR standards. Excess of this element causes skin diseases. Lead and mercury, the potentially obnoxious heavy metals increases many-fold in the water due to the idol immersion. The heavy metals are known to be persistent in the aquatic environment, and gradually accumulate and magnify through the process known as bioaccumulation and biomagnification, while they move up in the food chain.

Thus, lead and mercury may magnify in their concentrations at different trophic levels, including in fishes and birds inhabiting the lake, which finally reach the humans through food. Organic compounds of mercury, for example methyl mercury when it enters the human body, concentrates in the brain and destroys the brain cells, damaging the central nervous system, and also causes corrosion and ulceration of the digestive tract. Thus, people consuming contaminated fish caught from the lake over a period of time may get afflicted with mercury poisoning. Therefore, it is suggested that the authorities looking into the environmental protection of the lake need to take necessary steps.
It has been established by studies that these idols have impact on aquatic environment during immersion.
Impact of Various Items on Aquatic Environment during Immersion of Idols
S. No. Items contributed by idols immersion Impact on Aquatic Environment
1. Clay/Plaster of Paris Increase dissolved solids, suspended solids in water, contribute metals, sludge
2. Decoration material viz. clothes, polish, paint, ornaments cosmetic items etc. Contributes suspended matter, trace metals (Zinc, lead, iron, chromium, arsenic, mercury etc.) metalloids and various organic and inorganic matter, oil & grease etc.
3. Flowers, Garlands, oily substance Increase floating suspended matter organic contamination, oil & grease and various organic and inorganic matter
4. Bamboo sticks, Beauty articles Big pieces got collected and recycled while small pieces remain floating in water or settled at the river bottom inhabiting river flow
5. Polythene bags/plastic items Contribute suspended, Settleable matter and hazardous material to water and chokes the aquatic life
6. Eatables, food items etc. Contributes oil and grease, organics to water bodies.
The impact on water quality of river have been observed with respect to levels of conductivity, Total and Dissolved solids. Biochemical oxygen demand. River bed sludge analysis reflected elevated levels of trace metals viz. iron, arsenic and mercury. Based on the study of Central Pollution Control Board, the following suggestions were made to reduce the pollution load from idols immersion activities:
- Areas may be earmarked for immersion and other related activities to prevent indiscriminate disposal and to help retrieval of recoverable materials.
- Temporary confined pond near rive locations may be identified for immersion of idols and other worship material to prevent pollution of main river stream. The closed pond water may be disposed into Main River after settling, scavenging and treatment.
- The offerings like flowers and leaves may be collected in separate containers or in pits for composting.
- After immersion, the recyclable articles like Jari, Clothes, plastics, aluminium foil, wood and bamboo may be taken out from the water bodies. The civic authorities may engage agencies/persons for doing the job.
- Environment friendly practices such as use of biodegradable dyes and paints may be encouraged.
- Public should be made aware of adverse affects of idol immersion in river water.
- Rag picker activities through which recyclable material is removed should be encouraged further to avoid the contamination of river water with floating materials like plastics, flowers, wooden structure etc.

DPCC should issue a directive similar to one given by Assam Pollution Control Board to protect Yamuna to lessen pollution loads under the provisions of the Water Act, 1974 and Environment Protection Act, 1986, to ensure that idol structures are collected from water bodies within 24 hours of immersion.

The Noble Peace Prize for Al Gore and R K Pachauri headed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an effort to dilute the strong position taken by India as part of G-77 and China on 17 th April, 2007 in the UN Security Council debate on climate change.

In an interview to The Times of India in April 2002 before Pachauri won the Chairmanship of IPCC from Robert Watson because US has refused to support the latter following his criticism of the Bush administration for its failure to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. Pachauri had promised that he would not do that.

While agreeing that with carbon emissions being at the heart of human economic activity on the planet, it is inescapable that structural change to the global economy, accompanied by cultural changes, is a must for decarbonisation, countries, including China, India, Russia, Venezuela, and Pakistan besides many in the Group of 77 raised doubts over the Security Council's role on this issue, with some suggesting that it was primarily a socio-economic and/or sustainable development issue that should be addressed by UN General Assembly instead.

But the European position articulated by British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, the current president of the Security Council disagreed saying, "The Security Council is the forum to discuss issues that threaten the peace and security of the international community. What makes wars start? Fights over water. Changing patterns of rainfall. Fights over food production, land use," she said. "There are few greater potential threats to our economies ... but also to peace and security itself."

Expressing her concern about the poorest populations of the globe, she predicted global economic convulsions on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars and the economic depression of the first half of the 20th century. The fear of the developed countries which have inappropriately linked population with environment and health must be viewed in the backdrop of an expected increase of the world's population to eight billion by 2030. The Noble Peace Prize seems to be a reiteration of the US and European position that looks at climate change is a national security issue.

Take the US, for instance. While unwilling to embrace reductions in carbon emissions, the US government is internally examining the challenges that will result nonetheless. According to the report, National Security and the Threat of Climate Change, by the government-funded national security think tank, the Center for Naval Analyses, global climate change presents a serious national security threat, which could impact Americans at home, impact US military operations, and heighten global tensions. The Military Advisory Board and the study team that has authored the report received briefings from the U.S. and U.K. intelligence community, climate scientists, and business and state leaders. The report recommends, "Military planning should view climate change as a threat to the balance of energy access, water supplies, and a healthy environment, and it should require a response."

Although India has no binding commitment to reduce emissions under the UN Convention yet it perhaps is the only country that has a Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to deal with climate change. It has one of the largest renewable energy programmes in the world. Even if one excludes large hydroelectric projects about 6 % of its grid capacity based on renewables (China's share is less than 1 % and the US share is about 2 %. Its National Auto-fuel Policy mandates cleaner fuels for vehicles. The Energy Conservation Act, outlines initiatives to improve energy efficiency. It could reduce predicted emissions by about 20 per cent. Importing natural gas and encouraging the adoption of clean coal technologies shows how it is making efforts. India has launched a National Mission on Biodiesel. One can agree or disagree with the merit of the steps envisaged by India to deal with climate change but the the effort by the IPCC and others to bracket China and India together is totally uncalled for.

The Noble Peace Prize for appears to be a signal to IPCC to accept the US and Euorpe's perception of climate change as a security threat.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the Timarpur Waste Management Company Pvt. Ltd., have proposed a waste incineration plant to treat the city's solid waste and generate 6 MW of electricity. TWMPCL has applied to a United Nations body for tradable carbon credits. Gopal Krishna find much wrong in the proposal.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has proposed to initiate a waste to energy (WTE) project at Timarpur that uses incineration. The Timarpur Waste Management Company Pvt. Ltd. (TWMCPL), a subsidiary of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd. (IL&FS) plans to generate 6 MW of electricity from the project at Timarpur, Delhi. It plans to process and treat 214,500 MT of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and produce 69,000 MT of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) in a year as per company's project design document. The project requires an investment of Rs.580 million. The promoters claim that the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance has agreed to provide 20% of the project's cost as a capital grant.

TWMCPL is a subsidiary of IL&FS and has been created only for Timarpur project. A Memorandum of Understanding between MCD and IL&FS was signed in March 2005 by D K Mittal, the CEO of TWMCPL and Rakesh Mehta, IAS the then Commissioner of MCD. Currently Mehta is Principal Secretary and Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Delhi Tansco Limited in Delhi Government. Mittal is also a serving IAS officer, besides being the CEO, Special Infrastructure Projects, Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) and a member, Supreme Court Committee on Waste to Energy despite being an interested party. Mittal was earlier with Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

On 14 March 2005, MCD said that it plans to earn carbon credits from the project. TWMPCL has since applied for approval from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Executive Board to earn carbon credit. The project got listed before the board on 23 May 2006, and the board sought comments until 21 June. TWMCPL had submitted its project design document.

The CDM Executive Board of the UNFCCC supervises the Clean Development Mechanism part of the Kyoto Protocol, and is accountable to the Conference of Parties (COP), the decision making body for the protocol.

The Kyoto Protocol entered into force on 16 February 2005, after which the CDM Executive Board started registering projects. The board is based in Bonn, Germany, at the UNFCCC Secretariat.

The Chair of the CDM Executive Board is Jos� Domingos Miguez. There are two Indian members as well in the Board, out of its 10 members from the parties to the Protocol. The Indian members are Sushma Gera and Rajesh Kumar Sethi. In addition, there are 10 alternate members in the Board.

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) allows industrialised countries to meet their emission reduction targets by paying for green house gas emission reduction in developing countries. Say that a company in India switches from coal power to biomass and that the CDM board certifies that by doing this, the company has reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 100,000 tonnes per year. The company will be issued 100,000 Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs). One CER corresponds to reduced green house gas emissions by one tonne of carbon dioxide per year. For example, if a project generates energy using wind power instead of burning coal, and saves 50 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, it can claim 50 CERs.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, the United Kingdom (a developed country) has to reduce its green house gas emissions by 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. Continuing with the example above, if the UK purchases the 100,000 CERs from the Indian company, its target goes down from 1 million tonnes/year to 900,000 tonnes per year, making the goal that much easier to achieve. Developed countries are expected to buy CERs from developing countries under the CDM process to help them achieve their Kyoto targets. CERs are therefore a "certificate", like a stock and help achieve trading of emissions credits.

A significant point to note is that in India, income from CERs are not taxed. MCD and TWMCPL are arguing that since they propose to generate electricity using a non-conventional energy source instead of fossil fuel, the Timarpur project must be deemed a renewable energy project and for which carbon credits be given to them. TWMCPL wants to receive CERs for this project to earn revenue by selling those CERs.

Problems galore

The central problem with the Timarpur proposal is that waste burning technology cannot automatically be deemed a renewable energy project. If anything, MCD and TWMCPL's attempt to classify the WTE plant as a CDM project is far fetched and misleading. Waste incineration is itself a greenhouse gas emitter and cannot qualify as CDM project. Incineration of waste violates Kyoto Protocol because as per the Protocol waste incineration is a green house gas emitter.

For a project to qualify as climate change mitigating project it is necessary that it excludes waste incineration -- including waste pelletisation or RDF, pyrolysis, gasification systems -- technologies. Incineration produces pollutants which are detrimental to health and the environment. Incineration is expensive and does not eliminate or adequately control the toxic emissions from today's chemically complex municipal discards. Even the latest incinerators release toxic metals, dioxins, and acid gases. Far from eliminating the need for a landfill, waste incinerator systems produce toxic ash and other residues. Such projects disperse incinerator ash throughout the environment and subsequently enter our food chain.

Two, the design document deliberately chooses not to mention emission of dioxins and heavy metals and thus does not mention the method to deal with such emissions. Dioxins are the most lethal Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) which are associated with irreparable environmental health consequences.

Three, less known is the fact that a similar incinerator-cum-power generation plant at this very site had failed several years ago and the reasons are worth going into. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) had also conducted an enquiry after the Delhi High Court ruled in April 2001 on the plant's failure. The court had taken issue with the procurement of the incineration plant at a cost of Rs.20 crores from a Danish firm Volund Milijotecknik in the mid-1980s and said that "No order should have been placed for procurement of the plant unless its utilities were completely known."

A Ministry of Environment and Forests 1997 white paper had gone into the orginally failed waste incineration plant at Timarpur, a project initiated in the mid-80s.

The MoEF paper said that the failure supported the fact that thermal treatment of municipal solid waste is not feasible in situations where the waste has a low calorific value.

It added: "A critical analysis of biological treatment as an option was undertaken for processing of municipal solid waste in Delhi and it has been recommended that composting will be a viable option."

In June 2005, Gurudas Kamat (MP, Congress, Mumbai North-east), Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy wrote to the MNES seeking review of its WTE programme, citing similar reasons.

Criticism did not come just from the Delhi High Court. Referring among other things to the orginally failed Timarpur incineration plant, a 'White Paper on Pollution in Delhi with an Action Plan' prepared by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests prepared in 1997, said this: "The experience of the incineration plant at Timarpur, Delhi and the briquette plant at Bombay support the fact that thermal treatment of municipal solid waste is not feasible, in situations where the waste has a low calorific value. A critical analysis of biological treatment as an option was undertaken for processing of municipal solid waste in Delhi and it has been recommended that composting will be a viable option. Considering the large quantities of waste requiring to be processed, a mechanical composting plant will be needed."

Four, besides the Kyoto Protocol, the project violates other agreed upon multilateral conventions. It breaks with the Stockholm Convention on POPs because it calls for improvements in waste management with the aim of the cessation of open and other uncontrolled burning of wastes. It violates Dhaka Declaration on Waste Management adopted by South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in October 2004. As per this declaration, SAARC countries cannot opt for incineration and other unproven technologies.

It is inspite of all this that in March 2005, the MCD signed an agreement with IL&FS to setup a waste incineration plant afresh at Timarpur. This time around, civil society groups protested at the India International Centre, the Delhi Secretariat, and MCD offices. Protest letters were submitted to ministers and officials both at the central and state levels. Around 60 individuals participated.

Caught in a time warp

Unmindful of the fact that waste incinerator technologies are net energy losers when the embodied energy of the materials burned is accounted for, the Union Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES) continues to promote it without any success. It is providing subsidy to such projects through its policy. It has written to all state governments to follow this policy as part of an excecutive order. MNES has now been renamed as Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

However, not only the judiciary, but a Parliamentary committee has also expressed its opinion against incineration projects. Referring to two burn projects in Andhra Pradesh as well to problems of incineration in general, Gurudas Kamat (Congress, Mumbai North-east), the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy wrote to the MNES on 14 June 2005 seeking review of its WTE programme. Kamat supported a ban on economic incentives for such projects, writing this: "We therefore direct that land filling of unsegregated wastes, incineration and recovery of energy from municipal waste shall henceforth not receive any Govt. sponsorship, encouragement or aid in any manner, except for completion of any projects that have already invested 30% of their capital cost on site."

It is not that better methods of handling municipal waste in Indian cities are unknown. Researchers of waste suggest that composting and recycling materials is a better alternative because it saves the amount of energy that incinerating these same materials would generate. When properly applied, compost prepared from segregated waste is an excellent organic fertilizer. Burning organic waste litter eliminates this valuable resource. Where volumes are too high for local land application, composting is a more sustainable alternative. Organic fertilizer can be analysed and managed before application; but smokestack emissions are dispersed by the wind.

On one occasion, Dr Abdul Kalam rightly summed up the need for integrated zero waste management. He illustrated this by referring to Gandhi Nagar, a town panchayat of around 2,400 families in Vellore district, Tamil Nadu. Gandhi Nagar generates garbage of over 48 tonnes per year. This garbage is converted into manure and recyclable waste generating over Rs.3 lakh in revenue, and the scheme provides employment to local people. Such measures promote sustainable development as against the current trend of introducing failed polluting technologies, which turn citizens into guinea pigs for experiments.

In a related development in favour of this approach, the Inter-Ministerial Task Force on Integrated Plant Nutrient Management has recommended setting up of 1000 compost plants all over the country and has allocated Rs.800 crore for the same in the year 2005. This report has been submitted in the Supreme Court in the writ (civil) no. 888/1996) case. Ntably, this report recommends composting as a measure for waste management instead of energy recovery because Indian soil is carbon deficit.

Conclusion

The ideal resource management strategy for municipal solid waste is to avoid its generation in the first place. This implies changing production and consumption patterns to eliminate the use of disposable, non-reusable, non-returnable products and packaging. The alternative waste disposal methods include waste reduction, waste segregation at source, extended use and refuse, recycling, biomethanation technology and composting.

In sum, the Timarpur project is technologically incompatible with reducing dioxins emissions and at the same relies on minimum guaranteed waste flows. It indirectly promotes continued waste generation while hindering waste prevention, reuse, composting, recycling, and recycling-based community economic development. It costs cities and municipalities more and provides fewer jobs than comprehensive recycling and composting. It prohibits the development of local recycling-based businesses.

One the question of CERs, while it remains to be seen what the CDM Executive Board will do, it is very likely it will not accept the TWMCPL proposal, as it is against the letter and spirit of the Kyoto Protocol.

This article has been published by www.indiatogether.org

YET ANOTHER WASTE TO ENERGY PLANT IN UP

In March 2007, centre gave its nod to the solid waste management (SWM) projects to be established in Lucknow and Agra. While the state capital would have it established at the cost of nearly Rs 48 crores, the project for the City of Taj will come at a cost of Rs 38 crores. The sop to the two cities comes as part of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission (JNNURM). The projects have been cleared by the Union ministry of urban development.

Sources said that the projects have been planned for the next five years and would be backed by the Central grant amounting to 50 percent of the net cost. Of the rest, 20 percent would be given by the state government and 30 percent by the local bodies, as envisaged under JNNURM.

In Lucknow, the plan focusses on revival of the long defunct Rs 180 crores waste-to-energy plant on Hardoi road, sources said. The scheme, sources revealed, categorically stresses on door-to-door collection of waste, its proper storage and subsequent transportation.

Lucknow produces around 550 metric tonnes per day (mtpd) of waste which, however, goes unmanageable. But if every thing falls in place as the officials claim, around 300 mtpd of waste would be taken care of by the waste-to-energy treatment plant on Hardoi road. As for the rest 250 mtpd, a new waste-to-compost plant would be established. For this, sources added, land fill sites would be developed.

Similarly, in Agra, a waste-to-compost plant would be established along with arrangements for door-to-door collection, waste storage and its transportation to a land fill site. The plant would cater to around 350 mtpd of waste produced in the city.

A National Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Task Force was formed in July 2004, headed by Chairman CPCB and consists of officials/ representatives of MoEF, CPCB, Ministry of IT, regulatory agencies (representatives of SPCBs), NGOs, Industry Associations/Industry, experts in the field and producers both formal & informal.

The mandate of national task force is to identify, plan and implement all issues related to e-waste in India. The National WEEE Task force has five thrust areas:

Policy & Legislation: To study the feasibility and format of a legislation on the handling and recycling of e-waste, not only as an environmental protection measure, but also to keep pace with international legislations such as the WEEE Directive in the EU. Led by CPCB, this covers issues of developing quickly national guidelines allowing for starting formal recycling operations, developing 'WEEE Rules', formulating standards and licensing procedures, etc.

Baseline Study: Led by the Indo-German-Swiss eWaste Project, this covers issues of quickly generating a national overview of WEEE by creating a database and developing a National Register / Clearing House to have a sufficiently accurate view on the present e-waste recycling system throughout India. The study will assess present scenario i.e. quantification, characterisation, disposal practices and environmental impacts and based on this, make projections for future quantities of e-waste.

Restructuring Recycling: Preliminary studies in this field have shown a surprisingly vivid, complex and efficient sector for e-waste recycling. However some processes require improvements (both in skills & technologies) and some have to be abandoned altogether due to the severe risks for health and environment. These processes should be transferred to the formal sector. Led by the Indo-Swiss-German eWaste Project, this Task force covers issues of restructuring and 'cleaning up' the present recycling sector, up-grading skills and technologies, substituting risky informal processes by the formal sector, etc.

EPR: The task force, led by MAIT, covers the issues of system ownership, financing, logistics, contractual arrangements with recyclers etc within the framework of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the context of WEEE Management Systems.

Awareness Building: The current awareness levels regarding the existence and dangers of e-waste are extremely low, partly because the e-waste being generated is not as large as in developed countries. However, urgent measures are to be taken now to make consumers and manufacturers aware of e-waste. This task force covers issues of informing the public, creating awareness campaigns etc.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Timarpur Waste Management Company Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd. (ILFS) have proposed a waste incineration plant to treat the city's solid waste and generate 6 MW of electricity. TWMPCL has applied to a United Nations body for tradable carbon credits.

MCD plans to process and treat 214,500 MT of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and produce 69,000 MT of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) in a year as per company's project design document. The project requires an investment of Rs.580 million. The promoters claim that the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance has agreed to provide 20% of the project's cost as a capital grant.

A Memorandum of Understanding between MCD and IL&FS was signed in March 2005 by D K Mittal, the CEO of TWMCPL and Rakesh Mehta, the then Commissioner of MCD. On 14 March 2005, MCD said that it plans to earn carbon credits from the project. TWMPCL has since applied for approval from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Executive Board to earn carbon credit. The project got listed before the board on 23 May 2006, and the board sought comments until 21 June. TWMCPL had submitted its project design document.

The CDM Executive Board of the UNFCCC supervises the Clean Development Mechanism part of the Kyoto Protocol, and is accountable to the Conference of Parties (COP), the decision making body for the protocol. The Kyoto Protocol entered into force on 16 February 2005, after which the CDM Executive Board started registering projects. The board is based in Bonn, Germany, at the UNFCCC Secretariat.

Threat to Zero Waste Management

Unmindful of subverting the Zero Waste initaitives, a waste to energy policy of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) that supports polluting incinerator technologies is being bulldozed down the throat of citizens amid massive criticism from civil society.

If Zero Waste advocates do not raise their voice in unison at a time when MNRE, Ministry of Science and Technology and Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Namo Narain Meena seeks industry’s cooperation for waste-to-energy technologies and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is attempting to involve the private sector in a big way in municipal waste management through dubious technological interventions, the sane waste management practices which Zer Waste advocates campaign for would get distorted beyond repair with adverse consequences.

Following an execuitive letter from MNRE, Government of India, CPCB is trying to evolve a consensus on inter-state movement of industrial hazardous wastes. Standards for common incinerator facility and industrial waste management would be finalised shortly. The CPCB is attempting to involve the private sector in a big way in municipal waste management, the Government had decided to move away form prescribing technical specifications for land fills and would now focus only on enforcement of standards. Also working group has been constituted to provide a guidance document for private sector involvement in waste management.These facts about which we all had an inkling were revealed on 22nd March, 2005 at FICCI Environment Conclave in Delhi.

While a serious threat to environment has arisen due to Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) of the Ministry of Science and Technology, developing a technology to convert waste into a source of toxic fuel, the above mentioned ministries are paying lip service to the concept of Integrated Zero Waste Management approach.
As is well known generation of hugely costly electricity from waste based on burn technology emits very toxic emissions.

All this is happening despite the fact that government is aware of the Integrated Zero Waste Management. A total sanitation programme at Gandhi Nagar Town panchayat in Vellore district where a village having 2,400 families generates garbage of over 48 tonnes per year has been noted by the government. Their garbage is converted into manure and recyclable waste generating over Rs 3 lakh in revenue. All the 2,400 families in the village are able to have a clean green village just by paying around Rs 10 per month per family. The scheme provides employment to members of the panchayat.

There is a need for a new policy structure that will fully embody the concepts of the three R’s – Recover, Reuse, Recycle – and set out the broad parameters for waste minimisation and utilisation by industry and municipalities.

Environmental Blog Roundup
15 October 2007 — permalink
In honor of Blog Action Day, we wanted to highlight some of the many Blogger-powered blogs that are focused on the environment, climate change, and sustainability. Want to see more Blog Action Day participants from around the web? Find them on Blog Search.

* Cleantech Blog - Commentary on technologies, news, and issues relating to next generation energy and the environment.
* The Conscious Earth - Earth-centered news for the health of air, water, habitat and the fight against global warming.
* Earth Meanders - Earth essays placing environmental sustainability within the context of other contemporary issues.
* Environmental Action Blog - Current environmental issues and green energy news.
* The Future is Green - Thoughts on the coming of a society that is in balance with nature.
* The Green Skeptic - Devoted to challenging assumptions about how we live on the earth and protect our environment.
* Haute*Nature - Ecologically based creative ideas, art & green products for your children, home and lifestyle, blending style with sustainability.
* The Lazy Environmentalist - Sustainable living made easy.
* Lights Out America - A grassroots community group organizing nationwide energy savings events.
* The Nature Writers of Texas - The best nature writing from the newspaper, magazine, blog and book authors of the Lone Star State.
* Rachel Carson Centennial Book Club - Considering the legacy of Rachel Carson's literary and scientific contributions with a different book each month.
* Sustainablog - News, information and personal meanderings related to environmental and economic sustainability, green and sustainable business, and environmental politics.
* These Come From Trees - An experiment in environmentalism, viral marketing, and user interface design with the goal of reducing consumer waste paper.

— Graham

Environmentalists Critical of Nobel Prize for R K Pachauri headed IPCC

New Delhi: Global Alliance Against Pollution expresses surprise at the choice of Dr R K Pachauri headed UN climate group for Noble Peace Prize which has proposed solutions like “a major expansion in nuclear power, use of GM crops to boost biofuel production, and reliance on unproven technologies…” to mitigate adverse climate change.

Such solutions have put the group on a collision course with those who argue that simply replacing one set of technologies with another set of technologies won't work. Nuclear reactors are dangerous and land clearance and chemical pesticides and fertilisers used to grow fuel crops can cause huge environmental damage. Pachauri is also a known supporter of Interlinking of Rivers project involving massive land use change-a listed cause of climate change as per Kyoto Protocol.

It is shocking to note that Pachauri headed The Energy Research Institute (TERI) is advising the Government of India to undertake polluting incineration technology based municipal waste to energy projects that has failed in US and Europe. Rationalising the same, he says, "The stress is on India because we are a developing nation so we need energy more. But developed countries shouldn't be pointing fingers at us because they have done their bit to pollute the environment. So they should set their own house in order first." TERI in its study done for Indian Environment Ministry estimates that municipal solid waste to energy projects have the largest potential of around $400,000 every year.

In fact TERI itself in one of its other studies on solid waste management in India has pointed out that the techno-economic feasibility of such projects is not established. Therefore, their recommendation to undertake the same is baffling given the fact that waste incineration is mentioned in the annexure A of the Protocol as a source of green house gas emissions. Although by now it is fairly well known that carbon trade does not alleviate poverty, Pachauri remains a votary of this trade in the name of poor.

It must be remembered that Pachauri, an Indian engineer and an economist had replaced Robert Watson, a US atmospheric scientist in 2002 as the Chairman of UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Watson has been the chairman of IPCC since 1996. Pachauri received 76 votes as a result of George Bush administration’s reported campaign against Watson who got only 49 votes. At the behest of fossil fuel lobby, the US campaign worked on a strategy for Watson’s removal to ensure industry friendly officials at IPCC. The world's biggest oil company, Exxon-Mobil among others had proposed this strategy in liaison with oil producing countries like Saudi Arabia. His industry friendly approach manifested itself in all the seminars, conferences and workshops he organized either as IPCC or TERI by taking sponsorship from all those corporations who are known for heinous corporate crimes. When the Indian Ministry of Water Resources Resolution dated 24 February, 2003, made him a member of the Task Force on Interlinking of Rivers project constituted “with a view to bringing about a consensus among the states,” it became evident that he represents corporate interest and not the public interest that has rejected the mega project. A December 2002 resolution of Government of India has presented it as a panacea of all water problems that cannot be questioned.

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Limited in his speech “Transforming India Towards a New Development Model” on 21st August 2007 said, “We can converge civil engineering and agriculture to build a trans-India water resources system. This can be done by linking rivers on an unprecedented scale. It can result in adequate water resources for agriculture, particularly to put marginal land to productive use and benefit marginal farmers.” He was speaking at the sixth Darbari Seth Memorial Lecture organized by TERI.

Pachauri, TERI, Ambani and others who support the ecologically disastrous networking of rivers project ignore the way it would contribute to global warming by replumbing of the earth and rewriting of geography. Among other environmentally destructive consequences, it is noteworthy that Prof V. Rajamani of Jawaharlal Nehru University had brought out consequences of the proposed project on the South West monsoon. Unmindful of the fact that one of the major outcomes of `development' is water-scarcity, according to Pachauri this mega project would flood proof and drought proof the country, improve agriculture through canal irrigation, provide alternative transport, additional electricity, higher GDP growth, employment etc. What he does not pay attention to is that these projects cause near total removal of suspended sediment load from the stream flow, which would otherwise get deposited on land through flooding. Consequently, irrigation water would become nutrient depleted and this would necessitate the extensive use of chemical fertilizers for agriculture.

Connecting the rivers is an engineer's dream but Pachauri chooses to remain oblivious of massive human displacement, disappearance of villages, water logging of millions of hectares of agricultural land for the benefit of contractors, engineers and industrialists. According to a report of earth scientists, “The benefits of the monsoon rainfall to the entire ecology of India as well as to the human-centric economy need no reiteration. The adverse effects of reduced run-off to the Bay of Bengal because of river linkages appear to be real.” This report was co-authored by earth scientists such as Prof. Rajamani, U. C. Mohanty, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, R. Ramesh, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, G. S. Bhat, P. N. Vinayachandran and D. Sengupta, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India; Prasanna Kumar, National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, and R. K. Kolli, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune and published in Current Science.

Pachauri and Ministry of Water Resources do not take into cognizance several ecological and social consequences. If only little water is returned to the oceans because of interlinking of rivers, there are at least two major consequences. Marine life is deprived of nutrient supply and marine productivity is adversely affected. If the monsoon system from the Bay of Bengal slowly shuts itself off on a decadal or a century scale in the event of land-water not reaching the sea, then rivers on the Indian continent may not exist to sustain their linkages.

Is it believable that likes of Pachauri, TERI and Ambani do not know about these grave ramifications of their megalomania- a psychopathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of wealth, power, genius, or omnipotence?

For Details: toxicswatch@gmail.com