Mumbay shipbreaking yard

Monday the 10th of November started with a visit to Mumbai shipbreaking yard. It took almost two hours to get a permission to visit the yard. We had to run and see various officers before we got the permission to visit the yard. The first impression you get after entering the yard is like entering a world of toxic materials. Ship's parts are dumped everywhere and there's virtually no space to walk in the yard. If you want to walk from one plot to another you literally have to walk on toxic materials. The Mumbai (Bombay) shipbreaking yard has 19 small plots. The plots are totally congested and don't have enough space to dismantle the ships.

The workers aren't protected against the exposure of toxic materials. Also we were forced to inhale smokes and toxic fumes. Any one can see that workers are working in the yard without having any "Personal Protective Equipment". We saw workers without goggles while cutting the metal with a gas cutter. Asbestos lies everywhere on the ground. Even Jan, our expert from the Netherlands, was surprised to see the toxic materials like asbestos and others lying around in the plots. Earlier Mr. Swami (Asst. Manger) took us to the yard . He was kind enough to give us the permission to take photos in the yard. But suddenly he realized he made a mistake. Because at one place workers were cutting a ship right on the water and all water had turned black. He told us not to take any photos of this.