The Hindu : Opinion / Editorials : LETHAL SCRAP

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Saturday, Oct 16, 2004

Opinion

Opinion - Editorials

LETHAL SCRAP

THERE IS NO mystery about the munitions that have been surfacing in different States over the last few days. The rockets, missiles, shells, and grenades came into the country in consignments of imported steel scrap. The Indian steel industry imports scrap from countries in the war zones of Africa and West Asia because it comes cheaper than scrap from North America, Europe, or South-East Asia. The problem with war scrap is that unspent and hazardous material often finds its way into it. Following the blast caused by live shells in a Ghaziabad steel factory in which 10 workers were killed, and the subsequent crackdown on smelters, those in the business have been pre-empting the inspectors by cleaning out their scrap and irresponsibly dumping the lethal material wherever they can. This is the reason for the continuing discoveries of ammunition, both live and spent, from areas around the national capital, and in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. The hard questions in all this are about the lax policies governing the import of scrap steel, the absence of facilities for checking such shipments at the country's ports and container terminals — and the implications of these for the safety of people who come into contact with the material and for national security.

Most developed countries do not permit the import of scrap from war zones. In India, all that is required for importing scrap from a war zone is a certificate of safety from the shipper. The immediate response of the Government to the daily discoveries of unexploded ordnance was a notification from the Ministry of Commerce laying down new rules for the import of waste metal. But it is a typical case of one hand undoing what the other has done, all on the same piece of paper. Issued on October 9, the notification says the import of metallic waste and scrap shall henceforth be permitted only in shredded and compacted form but allows the import of loose scrap through "major ports only." That means most ports in the country. The notification seems intended more to create the impression of swift action to quell public alarm than to take meaningful steps to address the situation, and was evidently made without consulting any of the other Ministries concerned. It shifts the responsibility for preventing the entry of lethal cargo entirely on customs authorities, who are now required to carry out a "100 per cent inspection" of shipments of unshredded or uncompacted scrap. But it has failed to take into account that none of the ports has explosive detection equipment, and only one, Nawa Shewa near Mumbai, has container x-ray facilities. On the other hand, the Ministry of Finance, under which the Department of Customs functions, has warned of the prohibitive cost of going through each container and asked for a total ban on the import of loose scrap.

With the Cabinet Secretary setting up a committee this week comprising the Ministries of Finance, Commerce, Home, and Defence, it is hoped there will soon be some clarity within the Government on the issues arising from the Ghaziabad blast and a unity of approach on how to deal with them. In this, the Government would do well to co-opt scrap importers and users. Without their cooperation and strict compliance, no plan to prevent the entry of hazardous material can succeed. India is among the countries with a huge demand for waste metal. The country imports 3.65 million tonnes of scrap metal annually to feed its growing steel industry. After the incidents of the last two weeks, more than a thousand containers carrying scrap are stuck at the Inland Container Depot at Delhi, waiting for clearance. The Government must move to resolve the situation without further delay.

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