Who is Accountable for the massacres causing by toxic waste?

On 4^th October,2010, a leak at an alumina plant in Ajka, Hungary has endangered the environment of not only the country but also of its neighboring places. The toxic sludge spilled across 40 square kilometers contaminating the Danube river and its tributaries. The concern was not only confined in those 40 square kilometers, but it was a threat to the environment of the 12 surrounding countries.

The worst possibility of the case did not happen . The director of the company was detained and held responsible for the case. But , should he alone be held responsible ? Or, does his punishment justify the massacre that was possibly going to happen? Certainly not.

 

In September 2006, thousands in Ivory Coast report falling ill from waste in Abidjan .Trafigura , a multinational company was accused of exporting illegal waste from Amsterdam. And, on July 2010,the Dutch court found them guilty and fined 1m Euros.

 

Again , does a mere fine can refrain the companies from doing such illegal ,irresponsible behavior .I really doubt. The fact can be justified  by the fact that when Dutch court was suing Trafigura , MV Maersk Nashville , allegedly carrying a container laden with toxic materials was intercepted in Lagos. And few weeks down the line, M.V. Gumel was  detained for bringing into the country, eight containers laden with materials were suspected to be toxic .

 

But the legal binding is quite hard. The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal is the most comprehensive global environmental agreement on hazardous and other wastes. The Convention has 175 Parties and aims to protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects resulting from the generation, management, transboundary movements and disposal of hazardous and other wastes.

But still the illegal transboundary movement is on high. The developing countries are now being treated as the dumping yard. Not only Africa, India and other sub continental countries are experiencing this. The buzz was only created during the time of Clemenceau but many such cases remains unnoticed. A major  amount of waste also comes as charity . Despite the ban on these illegal imports by The Supreme Court of India , it is still going on.

The case that is observed in Korea , between 1995-2001 reveals the fact the deadly diseases like Hepatitis out broke as a result of exposure to the hepatotoxic materials generated during treatment of industrial waste using unslaked lime. Mostly , the toxic hepatitis or acute hepatitis is caused by occupational exposure rather than viral infection.

Who can he held responsible here - The companies or the ignorance and negligence of people or the negligence of the Government? The developing countries like India and China are expected to generate electronic waste  of 500% more than the current generation. The toxicity of these waste can be brutal to humanity itself.

And , then who will be accountable ?