The Blue Lady, known as a jewel in the French shipping industry has anchored in the Western Indian port of Alang, the world’s biggest breaking yard, in the Gujarat State. Asbestos –lined former ocean liner, this ship has come to India to be scrapped.
Environmentalists are up in arms against this move, due to the fear of toxic waste that will pollute the environment during the scrapping exercise. The ship contains 1,200 tonnes of cancer-causing toxic waste which the workers at Alang cannot handle effectively. Greenpeace and other groups have pointed a finger at the pressure tactics which the courts have succumbed to, making the consent for such a scrapping exercise in India possible.It was only in February that the French government after much deliberation had recalled the decommissioned aircraft carrier Clemenceau which was on its way to Alang, after an exhaustive drive launched by Greenpeace and other environmental groups.
