The Environment Ministry has proposed that a refundable levy be imposed on those importing hazardous materials into the country, to ensure that goods are picked up from the ports within a stipulated time frame, failing which the materials stood to be forfeit.

The levy amount would be used to safely move or dispose of the substances.

This proposal comes in the wake of last year's chlorine gas leak in Mumbai, which left over a hundred people hospitalised. The cause of the accident was a cylinder that had been left abandoned at the Port Trust for a decade.

Refundable fee scheme

The Ministry will write to the Revenue Secretary to propose the refundable fee scheme, according to a decision taken by the Central Crisis Group earlier this month.

The proposal calls for the imposition of a refundable levy on importers of hazardous material which could be forfeit if they do not collect such material from the ports within a stipulated time frame. In that case, the money will be used to safely move or dispose the hazardous substances.

Confiscated cargo

While the scheme might take care of fresh imports, there is already a substantial — and unknown — amount of hazardous materials lying about in ports across the country. While, according to the Shipping Ministry, some of this is confiscated cargo, the majority of it remains unclaimed. The government plans to ask the Disaster Management Institute in Bhopal to inventory such material, so that ports could make arrangements for their safe disposal.