Abandoned at Alang

NGOs' report unravels the inhuman conditions at the shipbreaking yard in Gujarat

"The death of earth is to become water, and the death of water is to become air, and the death of air is to become fire."

Ban Asbestos Network of India activist Gopal Krishna quotes Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius as he talks about the deaths and mutilation of migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand in the ship-breaking yard at Alang in Gujarat.

What is death of a man? Life? Krishna agrees it is very much so, at least for the workers at Alang, who have been profiled in the latest report jointly commissioned by NGOs Platform on Shipbreaking, BANI, Greenpeace and International Federation for Human Rights.

One of the stories in the report is of Rampad Gaur of Gaunarkhas village in Gorakhpur in UP. He was employed at Plot Nos V2 and 35 as a foreman or mukaddam in the Alang yard. In 1998, Gaur was exposed to a toxic gas while working on a ship and died two months later. The compensation was Rs 25,000.

According to the report, Gaur was hurriedly cremated at Talaja in Bhavnagar, so that no one could come forward to claim the meagre compensation and the provident fund in his name.

His wife Bindu Devi testifies in the report about the agony and hopelessness she had to endure after Gaur's death.

Another case: Sambhu's stomach was ripped while working in Plot No 35 of Alang, says the report. He continues to work there.

The report documents several such lives wasted by toxic fumes and materials aboard ships at Alang. It also emphasises that a greater cause for concen are the poor safety norms in the yard.

Almost every family in villages like Pokarbhinda, Gaunar, Gaunarkhas, Nathbaba, Tara Sara, Rudrapur, Piparaich and others in Gorakhpur have a story of injury, accident or death to narrate, due to the hazards involved in working at Alang, says the report. International Metal Workers Federation reported on February 24, 2006 that the police recovered charred remains of four workers from an Alang shipbreaking yard after it caught fire. The situation is the same today.

The organisation and people behind the report are now fighting against plans to bring Norwegian SS Blue Lady to Alang for breaking.

"Why is it that 90 per cent of all discarded ships come either to India or Bangladesh for breaking? It is because the owners get a good price here. Why? Blue Lady was bought for (only) $16 million as labour is cheap and there is no expense on safety guards," says Ingvild Jenssen, the Platform on Shipbreaking project coordinator.

www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/end-of-life-the- human-cost-of.pdf