Greenpeace protests against dumping of toxic
French warship in India

    New Delhi: Dozens of Greenpeace activists protested outside the French embassy in New Delhi on Tuesday against the dumping of the French warship Clemenceau at Alang in Gujarat, Asia's largest ship breaking yard.

   There are fears that workers may be exposed to fatal lung disease during the dismantling as they will have little protection against working with the hazards of asbestos. The 24,200 tonne Clemenceau, which was dispatched from France on December 31, 2005 is due to arrive at Alang. The French government claims it has removed 115 tonnes of asbestos from the ship and may contain only about 45-50 tonnes of the hazardous material. But, Technopure, the company contracted by the French government to decontaminate the ship claims it bears more than 500 tonnes of asbestos. Activists feel that India should not accept the ship, as there are no facilities for the workers' protection against asbestos. "They say 98 percent of asbestos will be decontaminated. But as of now they haven't even decontaminated more than 30 percent. They are not coming clean. They are not disclosing the truth. They are hiding behind the confidential clause even when people here in India are dying. The workers here are working in the yards without protection. No basic facilities as such are available to them," said Ramapati Kumar, Toxics Campaigner, Greenpeace India. French environmentalists have been objecting to the asbestos, a carcinogenic agent, laden ship being taken for dismantling to any another country. Turkey and Greece have already rejected the ship.