The Hindu Business Line : Kandla users drop stir plan against container freight station

PORT users at Kandla, who had been refusing to use the container freight station (CFS) set up by the Central Warehousing Corporation saying that it would add to their costs, have agreed to call off their proposed agitation.

"There were concerns expressed by a section of the Custom House Agents (CHAs) and they even threatened to go on strike. But we have allayed their fears regarding the new facility and they have agreed to carry out the stuffing and de-stuffing of containers at the CFS," the Kandla Port Chairman, Mr Janardhana Rao, told Business Line on Wednesday.

As per the new arrangement worked out by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports, stuffing and destuffing of containers had to be stopped inside the port premises after the container freight station was commissioned. While the Rs 30-crore facility was ready in January, due to apprehensions expressed by the users, Kandla Port decided to allow the users to continue using its space up to December 31.

The port, meanwhile, initiated discussions with the users to convince them about the advantages of using the container freight station.

"We had recently informed the users that the premises would not be available for stuffing or destuffing of containers from January 3 and the space would be diverted to bulk cargo instead," Mr Rao said.

The users, on their part, were claiming that the CWC operated facility was not capable of handling the entire container cargo, especially scrap.

They also said that the transaction costs for them would go up due to additional container moves from the port premises to the container freight station and back.

CWC has offered to allow the users to use their own labour and equipment so that the cost increase could be minimised and promised to ensure the safety of the cargo and the containers, he said.

Kandla Port has also offered to allow the usage of its space if the CWC facility was unable to handle the container cargo, especially scrap, which requires larger space, Mr Rao added.

"We are there to take care of any genuine concerns of the Exim community. The port is bound to pay damages to the tune of Rs 4.5 crore if the container freight station does not start functioning. We have convinced the CHAs that nowhere in the world is stuffing and de-stuffing of containers carried out on the port premises. Hopefully, the issue has been resolved for good," Mr Rao said.

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