LAHORE: The chief justice of Pakistan has been urged to take suo motu notice of Gadani ship-breaking yard ñre incident that claimed more than 20 lives.

Judicial Activism Panel Chairman Advocate Azhar Siddique has made the request in an application sent to the chief justice also demanding a ban on the shipbreaking industryin Pakistan as it has badly damaged environment of the country.

Many developed countries have already banned shipbreaking industry due to its hazardous ef fects, it says.

The application states a couple of days before the trag-edy, a group of workers from the ship-breaking yard had come to Karachi Press Club demanding better working conditions and more attention to their safety. The next day on Nov 2, it says, some of the workers were asked to dismantle the tanker filled with six-foot oil.

The application states Gadani is one of the world`s largest ship-breaking yards established in 1970 and labourers have injured breaking ships there, mainly due to poor safety measures. It urges CJ to take suo motu notice of the incident and punish authorities responsible for the negligence. Staff Reporter