Environmental activists Greenpeace International has demanded decontamination of ships before they are exported for scrapping to industrialising countries.
In a memorandum to the environment and forests ministry, Greenpeace said India should take a lead in this regard and press for it at the current five-day meet of the Conference of Parties (COP5) which began yesterday.
It says ships meant for scrapping contain toxic substances covered under the Basel norms which prohibit transboundary movement of hazardous wastes.
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Therefore, this issue also needs to be taken up for consideration by the technical working group which is going into such matters.
In a memorandum to the environment and forests ministry, the green activists said in highly industrialised countries such hazardous wastes are subjected to strict monitoring before qualifying for export to industrialising countries.
But some countries, including India, are reluctant to demand decontamination before such ships are exported to the Asian ship-breaking yards, the memorandum said.
Greenpeace also demanded ratification of the convention by India so that it strictly enforces the Basel norms under which all hazardous waste exports from industrialised to industrialising countries stand banned.