3 riders on toxic tub course

When the Supreme Court monitoring committee on hazardous waste meets in Delhi on January 20 to review its decision on not allowing toxic ship Clemenceau into India, observations made by the panel in February 2005 could influence the decision.

The committee, in its observations on the ship, in February 2005 had sought three main requirements to allow entry of the ship into the country, including an inspection by a third party.

The committee had sought a report of the decontamination in Toulon, France, giving details of the actual quantity of asbestos removed, an independent third party audit verifying the report and a certificate from the French authorities that the ship does not violate the provisions of the Basel Convention.

Sources say, except for the decontamination report, the committee has not received any other document. "If we get the papers, we can decide whether to review the decision not to allow ship into the country," a member of the panel said.

The ministry of environment and forests has been asked to procure all relevant documents on the ship from the French embassy. The embassy had stated that the ship contains 45 tonnes of asbestos whereas Alang, the ship-breaking yard, can only handle 25 tonnes.

The committee is categorical that only if these conditions are met, would the ship be allowed in.

The panel has asked Ship Decommissioning Industrial Commission, the French company that decontaminated the ship, Greenpeace and the Indian firm that bought the ship to make a presentation before the committee on January 20.