Over 30,000 villagers in Guajarat's Bhavnagar district are up in arms against the Supreme Court order allowing dismantling of the toxic laden Norwegian ship Blue Lady. The apex court had recently allowed the dismantling of the controversial contaminated ship anchored on the state coast since 2005.

However, the villagers fear that the ship's dismantling would adversely affect their livelihood and health.

An application about this matter has been filed in the Supreme Court in March on behalf of 12 sarpanchs and 30,000 people living in the vicinity of the ship breaking yard at Alang, said Bhagvatsinh Haubha Gohil, sarpanch of Sosiya in Talaja tehsil.

"We are upset that our plea on the crucial issue has not been considered. The ship-breaking would have a long lasting impact on the health of the villagers as they will be exposed to the hazardous material in the ship," said Gohil.

Also, the toxic material would affect marine life, the main source of livelihood for the villagers, he added.

"The ship still has radioactive material at 1,088 places. We will file a review petition challenging the apex court's decision," said Gopal Krishna, coordinator of the Indian Platform on Ship-breaking.

The ship containing toxic asbestos material has been anchored on the Gujarat coast since December 26, 2005, after environmental groups protested against its dismantling. They contended that the ship would pose serious health problems to the workers engaged in the ship breaking industry.