Clemenceau and cobras
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The exact amount of asbestos carried by the ship is not known
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LETHAL LOAD: Greenpeace India is valiantly fighting the Indian government against Clemenceau's entry. — AP
THE DISCARDED warship of France, named Clemenceau after the one-time French Prime Minister and War Minister of the First World War time, is set to sail towards Alang in Saurashtra, where it will be broken down and the salvaged metal is expected to yield India some profit.
But there is a huge concern about the affair because the ship contains anywhere from 40 to over 200 million tonnes of asbestos. The trouble is that this asbestos is not in a form to be recovered and used for other purposes safely. It will simply have to be removed and discarded as well.
The problem
Who would do it and how will they do it? The demolition workers at the Alang shipyard, who are not experts in the disposal and recovery of this material.
What is the problem? Asbestos is a notorious health hazard, and all know it — the French, who are discarding Clemenceau, the Indian government, which is getting it, and the Egyptians who are currently holding the ship to a halt at Port Said.
The problem is furthered by the fact that there is a lot of bending the facts by both the French and Indian Governments. In effect, they are playing with the health of the Indian people and doing a lot of fudging about it. This is unacceptable.
Indeed the only government that appears to be acting more responsibly is that of Egypt, which has asked whether France has followed the Basel Convention on Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste.
The answer to this question not being clear, there is currently a stand-off. And sadly, among the media, the experts and the public in India or France, the only ones to have raised the issue and provided detailed information are The Hindu (and its correspondent in France, Vaiju Narawane), and J. Sri Raman who writes in Truthout.
The NGO Greenpeace has actually entered the ship and put up a banner declaring "asbestos carrier, stay out of India." Greenpeace India is valiantly fighting the Indian government against its entry.
Asbestos is a naturally occurring silicate and is a cousin of quartz and sand. It occurs in great abundance on earth and is easily made into fibres.
In addition, it is very inert — insoluble in just about any solvent, nonflammable and a flame retardant, heat-resistant, an electrical insulator, and does not migrate through soil.
It binds with better insulating materials to create excellent construction materials. And in tensile strength, it surpasses steel.
All these wonderful properties make asbestos a superstar for industrial use. No wonder it has been used since antiquity.
The Greek gave it the name asbestos, meaning `inextinguishable' or `indestructible.' The Egyptians embalmed their Pharaohs with asbestos and the Persians imported it from India. They thought it was hair from an animal that lived by fire and died by water.
Along with all these wonderful properties also come its health risks. These have been known too, since the Roman times.
Pliny the Elder noted that people working in asbestos quarries and mines became very sick upon inhaling asbestos dust and died young. Viennese doctor confirmed this diagnosis in detail in 1897. And the first documented case of asbestos related death was reported in 1906 when the autopsy of an asbestos worker revealed lung fibrosis.
Since then, well over 100,000 cases of asbestosis, as the disease is technically called, have been discussed in professional medical literature.
The condition is triggered by inhalation of dust or fibres of asbestos. Upon deposition, they lead to difficulty in breathing, poor oxygen exchange due to clogging and fibre/plaque formation in the lungs, persistent dry cough, enlarged heart, pleuracy or liquid effusion in the linings of the chest and lungs, and a form of lung cancer called mesothelioma.
There are no known cures for asbestosis and mesothelioma. The affected person suffers for decades, awaiting the bitter end. Insurance companies, not surprisingly, have increased the premiums for asbestosis workers.
Some nations such as the U.S. have regulated the use of asbestos and the use of protective gear for workers. Alas, we in India have not.
Rallying together
Asbestosis sufferers across various nations have rallied together as non-governmental groups to highlight the hazards in the handling and use of asbestos, fight for regulations in its use, compensation for those who have contracted asbestosis and related ailments, and campaign against the unregulated use of asbestos.
The President of such a group called ADDEVA in France, Mr. Le Guilcher, has stated: "I have been to India and seen the working conditions there. Breaking Clemenceau in India in its present state of contamination would be tantamount to a crime against humanity."
It is clear that Clemenceau is a scandal. France is not able to tell us how many tonnes of asbestos are left in it. The ship has left France, leaving France safe from this problem. Egypt is being pressurised to let it leave Port Said for India.
Not convinced
The Supreme Court of India has asked its Hazards Monitoring Committee for advice. Dr. G. Thyagarajan of the committee is not convinced about letting Clemenceau enter.
But the Union Environment Minister, A. Raja, has been reported to claim that the workers in Alang can safely remove the asbestos. Dr. Thyagarajan counters: "If a ship comes with 1 lakh cobras, will we accept it just because some Indians can catch cobras?" (Come to think of it, death from a cobra, being faster, is kindlier.)
The journal Environmental Health states that of the over 100,000 Indians working with asbestos, 23 per cent are affected by asbestosis but a mere 30 have been compensated.
And what will Clemenceau fetch us? About Rs. 50 crores as scrap. What should our priority be? To paraphrase what Mr. Clemenceau said about 100 years ago about war and the military, Clemenceau is too serious a matter to be left to the government alone. For the sake of our health, let us not allow the ship to enter India.
D. BALASUBRAMANIAN
dbala@lvpei.org
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