+++ KAKINADA BEACH SAVED +++

The beautiful beach of Kakinada (India) would soon have turned into a scrapyard for old, toxic ships, threatening the lives of local people and the nearby Coringa nature reserve. Protests from India and the rest of the world have convinced the local government to chamge its mind.

The white sandy beaches of Kakinada, India are saved from being turned into polluting scrapyards. In April 2005 a worldwide ban on single hull oil tankers (initiated by the European Union) came into effect, but there were (and still are) hardly any clean and safe shipbreaking facilities. So most ships with toxic and oil waste onboard sail their last journey to the shipbreaking yards of Asia, where they are scrapped under appalling circumstances.

Horrifying example
For shipbreakers it was a very profitable time to establish a new shipbreaking yard on an Asian beach, so they planned one at Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh). But many fisherman's families live and work along the Bay of Kakinada. Around 200.000 people depend on clean seas for their livelihoods. So the fishermen desperately tried to stop the arrival of the ships for scrap. Their horrifying example: the shipbreaking yards of Alang. In Alang the sea is heavily polluted and many workers die because of exploding oil residues, toxic substances and asbestos.

Mangrove forests
The shallow Bay of Kakinada is an ecologically sensitive area. Some 20 km south of this port town is located one of the last big united mangrove area of South East Asia. In the coastal zone the mangrove forests act as a barrier against erosion and high tidal waves. The mangrove also protects the inlands against cyclones: the area is cyclone prone during October and November. They provide food and shelter to numerous species of fish and birds, sea otters and monkeys. The mangrove trees breath from the roots that grow in the saline water. So they are very vulnerable to oil pollution by the ships for scrap.

Hope Island
'Hope Island' is the name of the 16 km long sand spit that has created the Bay of Kakinada. Little hope would remain for the pristine island if the shipbreaking plans would be realized. On Hope Island we find several species of turtles. The inhabitants of Kakinada are convinced that Hope Island protects them against cyclones and other natural disasters. Parts of the narrow sandy formation are already flooded due to the construction of a deep sea port. People were afraid their beautiful island would be submerged with the arrival of end-of-life vessels and the further extension of industrial activity.

EU responsibility
Through court procedures the fishermen succeeded in temporarily stopping the shipbreaking yards, but feared that the state government would give a go-ahead. Greenpeace and thousands of cyber activists supported the fishermen in their call against a new shipbreaking beach, by sending e-mails to the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and to the transport ministers of the European Union.

Links:
-Kakinada, facts and figures
- Shipbreaking in Kakinada
- Mangrove forests
- Read the testimonies of the fishermans's families