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The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Technical Experts Committee, Gujarat Maritime Board and Gujarat Pollution Control Board to report within three months whether stipulations prescribed for dismantling a ship containing hazardous substances have been followed before granting approval for dismantling the Norwegian vessel Blue Lady.
A bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and S H Kapadia in its order also said focus would be on whether 80 per cent of the asbestos was reusable as claimed and what steps were proposed to control environmental pollution caused by the dust from the dismantling of the ship.
The court also wanted to know about the nodal agency that would be entrusted the job of overseeing the dismantling of the Blue Lady, which has already been breached.
According to the authorities, the ship now cannot be sent back to Norway. Earlier, Bangladesh had denied entry to the ship. But India permitted it to drop anchor at Alang Port in Gujarat. It contains 10 metric tons of asbestos, a highly hazardous substance.