Alang (Gujarat): Norwegian cruise liner Blue Lady docked at Gujarat's Alang ship breaking yard on Tuesday for dismantling after the Supreme Court gave the green signal to the concerned authorities to do so.
The leader of the worker's union at the yard, Kishore Chandra said that the entry of the ship would provide jobs to several unemployed workers.
"The arrival of this ship at the port will pose no threat to the environment. It will bring prosperity to whole of Gujarat as it has the potential to provide employment opportunities to unemployed workers," he said.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had allowed the ship to enter Indian waters, but put a hold on it's dismantling, pending a report by an expert panel on the quantum of toxic wastes on board.
Beaching was permitted after Indian experts had given the go ahead for the scrapping of the controversial cruise liner, which environmentalists say contains toxic material harmful to ship-breakers.
The 15-member team of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) and Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) gave clearance after the committee carried out a five-day inspection of the ship.
Greenpeace and other groups had raised concern and protested over the Blue Lady.
According to them, 46,000-tonne cruise liner, which anchored in June off the Alang ship-breaking yard contains more than 900 tonnes of asbestos which would put the health of workers at risk.
A recent Greenpeace report said that thousands of ship breakers in countries including, India, China and Pakistan had probably died in the past two decades from accidents or exposure to toxic waste.
In February, France recalled its decommissioned aircraft carrier Clemenceau after an outcry over the asbestos it contained.
However, the Gujarat Maritime Board, which leases out the yards in Alang, says they can handle toxic and hazardous waste.
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