+++ SAVE KAKINADA BEACH +++

The beautiful beach of Kakinada (India) may soon turn into a scrapyard for old, toxic ships, threatening the lives of local people and the nearby Coringa nature reserve. Kakinada fishing families need your help to save Kakinada beach. Let the President of Andra Pradesh and the European Union know they should protect nature and the livelihood of Kakinada families.

The white sandy beaches of Kakinada, India could be turned into polluting scrapyards. With the compliments of the European Union. Europe decided to ban all single hull oil tankers. The International Maritime Organisation followed and turned this decision into a worldwide ban. This comes into effect on 5 April 2005. But where should these end-of-life vessels go? There are hardly any clean and safe shipbreaking facilities. So most ships with toxic and oil waste onboard will sail their last journey to the shipbreaking yards of Asia, where they are scrapped under appalling circumstances.

Horrifying example
For shipbreakers it is a very profitable time to establish a new shipbreaking yard on an Asian beach. In Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh) they can hardly wait to start building. But many fisherman's families live and work along the Bay of Kakinada. Around 200.000 people depend on clean seas for their livelihoods. The fishermen desperately try to stop the arrival of the ships for scrap. Their horrifying example are 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. But there remains little hope for the pristine island if the shipbreaking plans are 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 now are afraid their beautiful island will be submerged if the end-of-life vessels arrive and industrial activity extesnds further.

EU responsibility
Through court procedures the fishermen succeeded in temporarily stopping the shipbreaking yards. But now they fear that the state government will give a go-ahead to the shipbreaking plans. Greenpeace supports the fishermen in their call against a new shipbreaking beach. Not only the Indian authorities are responsible, the European Union as well. Europe protects itself against future oil disasters by banning single hull oil tankers. But the EU should not export its toxic and oil problems to Asia. Very rightly the EU together with 163 countries to the Basel Convention acknowledges ships for scrap as hazardous waste that are not simply allowed to be exported to developing countries. But now the EU should also ensure clean shipbreaking facilities. It's the only way to prevent an ecological disaster in Kakinada.

Act now: send an email together with the Kakinada fishermen !

You can help saving the beaches and mangroves of Kakinada. Read the testimonies of the fisherman's families and join them in protesting against the shipbreaking plans. Send an e-mail 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