SC orders probe into Danish ship dismantling

NEW DELHI: Strange as it may sound, India has denied the Danes their ship.

The Danish government wanted India to return its 51-years-old ailing ship docked at Gujarat's Alang dock. It said that the ship was of hazardous nature. But Indian environment minister A Raja declined the request saying the country had the requisite permission for 'bleaching' it.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court intervened when environmentalist Madhumita Dutta said that allowing the docking of a hazardous ship on Gujarat's Alang dock was violative of the Basel convention as well as its judgment that laid down stringent guidelines for disposing off hazardous material including worn out ship. Dutta said that the Environment Ministry had allowed dismantling of the ship despite the fact that the vessel was sailing under the flag of Roxa, which was a fictitious state.

A Bench of Justices Y K Sabharwal, C K Thakker and R V Raveendran issued notice to its Monitoring Committee headed by M G K Menon to ascertain facts. It also issued notice to the customs department.

Environment minister of Denmark, Connie Hedegaard, had drawn Raja's attention way back in April 2005 towards 'Ricky' -- also called 'King Frederik IX' when it was sailing in the Suez. He said this ship was bound for an Indian dock in Gujarat for dismantling.

Hedegaard wanted India to refuse its entry as it was of hazardous nature and considered to be used in "illegal traffic of waste", banned by the Basel Convention to which India is a signatory. Raja replied that India was strictly complying with the apex court's directions and also the guidelines of the convention.

He also said 'Ricky' was already bleached on April 23 after the Central Pollution Control Board certified that it did not contain any hazardous material.

"I would like to assure you that India has adequate capacity to ensure environmentally sound disposal of the said ship," Raja replied on April 28, 2005 to Hedegaard's April 15 communication.

What's Basel Convention?

'Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal' was first proposed in 1987 as a rapid global response to a late 1980s outbreak of international waste dumping

Its preamble recognises that any country has the sovereign right to ban the entry or disposal of foreign hazardous wastes and other wastes in its territory