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SR Vol.47 [2010] >
SR Vol.47(06) [June 2010] >
| Title: | The Killing Fields of Alang! |
| Authors: | Kumbhare, Prakash
Ghosh, Arindam |
| Issue Date: | Jun-2010 |
| Publisher: | CSIR |
| Abstract: | India’s ship breaking industry is
vital for its economy but unsafe for the environment and more so for the health
of the workers. Strict monitoring and regulation and incorporation of best
practices and environmentally sound technologies can retrieve the situation.
In April this year six people were killed as a
massive fire broke out in Plot No. 27 at the Alang ship-breaking yard in
Gujarat. The six people were dismantling
a ship from which too much oil leaked into the sea. Soon the ship caught fire
and the six unfortunate workers were charred to death. But
this is not the first time that such tragic incidents have happened at Alang,
one of the world’s biggest and busiest ship-breaking yards. Besides, apart from deaths and injuries, the
devastation caused to the health of those working in close proximity of
potentially hazardous materials on ships is anybody’s guess.And then one has also to grapple with the
huge environmental cost. Alang was once a pristine beach before it was turned
into a death yard. |
| Page(s): | 8-14 |
| ISSN: | 0036-8512 |
| Source: | SR Vol.47(06) [June 2010]
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