The Hindu Business Line : Curbs on Venduruthy bridge hit ICD movement to Kochi port

THE restrictions imposed by the railway authorities on the Venduruthy Bridge, connecting the Kochi Port to mainland, has affected the movement of ICD's (inland container depots) to the port.

The Railways had temporarily suspended both its passenger train service and goods movement as one of the pillars of the bridge got damaged after being hit by a dredger on July 29. Following the restrictions, the ICD movement to the port has come to a halt, resulting in a slight reduction in the overall traffic of the port. According to shippers, the worst affected was coffee exports from Bangalore, as exporters depend mostly on Kochi for their exporting needs. The port used to get around 250 teus (twenty foot equivalent units) of coffee consignment in a month for exports and with the ban on traffic, coffee exporters started diverting the entire cargo through the Chennai Port.

However, the Concor officials said here that they had made alternate arrangements for other ICD consignments such as tea from Coimbatore by road. Coffee exporters at Bangalore opted for Chennai due to high transportation costs through road, the officials said.

The port Chairman, Dr Jacob Thomas, said that the port is willing to consider all steps including cost reduction measures to ensure that cargo is not diverted from Kochi at any cost.

The port has started discussions with the Railways to utilise the Marshalling Yard near Vyttila for rail connectivity between the port and the mainland. The ICD containers could be unloaded in the yard and taken to the port by road. The port would also hold discussions with shipping lines and Concor to help the trade minimise the loss likely to arise out of the bridge damage, he added.

The chairman also pointed out that the coffee from Chikmagalur, Kusalnagar and Hassan areas of Karnataka, which was hitherto being trucked to Kochi in break bulk, is continuing to flow to Kochi for stuffing in port container freight station and other warehouses. This year's season of coffee is coming to an end and since this is the fag end of the season, the coffee volume is reducing day by day and the impact of the bridge is not actually affecting the coffee exports through Kochi, he said.

The total number of containers received from ICD Bangalore through rail during the year 2003-04 was 7,000 teus. Of this, 1,500 teus comprises coffee for export through Kochi. It is understood that about 50-60 teus of coffee has been diverted to the Tuticorin Port for export as Chennai Port was charging $50 surcharge per teu.

As far as Coimbatore containers are concerned, he said the port used to receive about 9,200 teus per annum. As the Coimbatore ICD is being shifted to a new facility and all the boxes are being moved from Coimbatore to Kochi by road by Concor.

Regarding the repairs of the bridge, he said the port would extend all possible help, including financial support to the Railways to carry out the work to revive the traffic through the bridge. The cost of repairs would be determined only after detailed investigations on the extent of the damage caused to the bridge.

Meanwhile, there were reports that normal traffic through the bridge will be delayed indefinitely as the crack in the pillars got widened on account of the plying of two goods trains through the bridge recently to clear some of the remaining cargoes stranded in the Willingdon Island.