The Hindu Business reported that after witnessing good growth in the handling of iron ore cargo for 4 to 5 years now, the New Mangalore Port has registered a decline in ore handling in recent months of the current financial year.
The ban in Dakshina Kannada district on the movement of trucks carrying iron ore, insufficient allocation of rail wagons for the movement of ore from the mines and the reduction in handling of iron ore cargo by KIOCL Limited are seen as some of the reasons for this fall.
The port witnessed a decline of nearly 1 million tonnes of iron ore cargo till the mid October compared to the previous fiscal. The port handled 4.39 million tonnes of iron ore cargo till mid October in the current fiscal, against 5.41 million tonnes in the corresponding period previous fiscal. Of this the share of KIOCL Limited stood at 0.436 million tonnes and other users at 3.95 million tonnes.
Mr P Tamilvanan chairman of New Mangalore Port Trust said that there is a shortfall of around 0.911 million tonnes in the handling of iron ore by KIOCL Limited alone. At one point of time, around 1.5 million tonnes of iron ore cargo was stacked at the port. He said that number is hardly 0.2 million tonnes, 0.3 million tonnes now.
While the ban on movement of trucks carrying iron ore has reduced the road transportation of the ore to the port, the lower allocation of railway wagons has affected the movement of the cargo through the rail network. The rail network has been contributing a good share in the total handling of the iron ore cargo since the commissioning of Hassan Mangalore railway line for freight traffic in 2006. In 2007 to 2008, the share of rail movement of iron ore increased to 3.03 million tonnes with trucks from the mines carrying 4.03 million tonnes to the port that year. In 2008 to 2009, the rail network carried 2.8 million tonnes of iron ore to the port and trucks carried 5.4 million tonnes.
Of the 4.39 million tonnes of iron ore cargo handled by the port till mid October in the current fiscal, the rail network transported 1.53 million tonnes. The number of wagons carrying iron ore was 23,549 till mid October, against 35,773 in the corresponding previous period. Seeking an increase in allotment of wagons and removal of the ban on movement of iron ore by road, the port users say the bulk of iron ore cargo is being diverted to the neighboring ports in Andhra Pradesh.
Cargo diversion
