India


Asbestos
Here highly toxic asbestos is routinely removed with bare hands. Toxic materials are dumped in the sea and on nearby agricultural land. Workers torch-cut ship steel into small pieces using very little machinery and without adequate safety equipment or training. Women carry asbestos waste on their heads and dump it into the sea.

Alang
Welcome to the beaches of Alang in India. The world's largest scrapping site for ocean going ships. In 1998 Greenpeace witnessed appalling worker's conditions and huge environmental pollution.



Contamination
Greenpeace returned in June 2000. Samples still showed that workers were exposed to poisons 24 hours a day. The sediments in Alang were more contaminated than the most heavily industrialised port areas. And these shipbreaking yards have only operated for 15 years. Officially, in India the import of toxic ships-for scrap is not allowed.

Gas-free certificates
India has taken first steps to address the problems. Gas-free certificates have become mandatory which makes the torch cutting of ships safer. Guidelines for safe work practices were laid out. Violations of these rules result in penalties. But no steps have been taken to protect the environment. Hazardous materials and toxic substances continue to be dumped in the sea and on surrounding land.

Second Alang
Still, a second Alang is on its way in India. The Andra Pradesh authorities gave conditional approval to a mega shipbreaking project on Vodarevu beach. The area is as big as 160 football fields. Three or four medium-sized ships can be broken up at each of the 60 plots at this yard. Greenpeace and Indian environmentalists urge the state to withdraw the permission. Over 10 fishermen communities started a legal procedure against this new shipbreaking yard. They managed to stop the project - at least temporarily.

Greenpeace visit
In November 2002 again two Greenpeace-campaigners visited Indian shipbreakingyards in Alang, Pipavav and Bombay. Read their travel report. After their visit again several accidents occurred in Alang. Several workers were killed and seriously injured.

Kakinada
In 2005 shipbreakers gave it another try in Andhra Pradesh, planning their dirty yards at the beaches of Kakinada. The plans not only threatened the nearby Coringa nature reserve, but also the lives of thousands of fishermen families that depend on a clean sea and the mangrove forests of Coringa. There is a widespread opposition to the shipbreaking plans: fishermen, shrimp farmers, Kakinada Chamber of Commerce, local and state politicians jointly try to stop the scrap units. Greenpeace initiates a worldwide cyber action, linking Kakinada beach to the many single hull oil tankers that are being phased out and for the greater part will end up in scrap yards like the ones planned in Kakinada. Thousands of people from over 100 countries send e-mails to Indian and European authorities. As a result Kakinada beach is being saved from the killing and polluting scrap yards.

Ships for scrap: Steel and toxic waste for Asia
Ships for scrap III, Steel and toxic wastes for Asia
Briefing paper Kakinada