Paris: The French Government's case concerning the decommissioned aircraft carrier, Clemenceau, appears fast unravelling. A Versailles court threw out an urgent petition by the French State seeking to block an independent enquiry into the amount of asbestos on board the ship, now on way to India for dismantling in Gujarat. The Defence Ministry said it would not appeal the court's decision.

The court reconfirmed its January 11 decision to set up an independent experts panel, which would "allow an evaluation of the quantity of asbestos remaining on the Clemenceau." It also asked the experts to "determine the amount of asbestos that could have been removed without damaging the ship's navigability."

Government claim

The Government claims that there is only 45 tonnes of asbestos left on board, not removable till dismantling since it is part of the ship's structure. Environmental associations accuse the Government of lying and put the amount of asbestos at between 500 and 1000 tonnes, most of it removable.

To arrive at a proper estimation, the court named a panel of two independent experts and said associations such as Ban Asbestos and Greenpeace should have access to documents in possession of the Technopure, which carried out the first phase of asbestos removal.

The Indian Supreme Court's Monitoring Committee on Hazardous Waste had access to Technopure's documents when the company agreed to testify before it on January 6. However, those documents could not be made available to the public because of the confidentiality clauses in Technopure's contract. The firm has said there is between 500 and 1000 tonnes of asbestos on board.

In yet another setback to the Government, the European Commission announced it was enquiring into the legality of sending the Clemenceau to India. According to its spokeswoman, the departure for India could constitute a violation of the 1989 Basel Convention on trans-boundary movement of toxic waste.

Under the Convention, wastes containing dangerous substances should not be exported outside the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. India does not belong to this rich man's club. Under the European Union law, ships intended for demolition are considered "waste." The spokeswoman said: "Commissioner Dimas (for environmental affairs) is worried and will be writing to French authorities asking for additional information in order to determine whether there has been a violation and if legal proceedings need to be launched."

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