The Hindu Business Line : Railways puts NMPT freight on fast track

The Railway-bound cargo movement at New Mangalore Port (NMP) is likely to touch the three million tonnes mark this financial year, if the current present trend is any indicator. Three million tonnes in that segment means a 500 per cent jump in the Railway-bound cargo over 2004-05 and a 100 per cent jump over the previous fiscal. The port handled 5 lakh tonnes of railway-bound cargo in 2004-05 and 15 lakh tonnes in 2005-06.

This is no small achievement for the port, which lacked proper railway connectivity to its main hinterland areas for several years. What contributes to this growth is the commissioning of the Mangalore-Hassan railway line — a vital link between NMP and its main hinterland areas — for freight traffic.

South Western Railway Zone, Southern Railway Zone and Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd provide service in the Mangalore region. While the Southern Railway connects Mangalore with Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Konkan Railway connects Mangalore with Goa and Mumbai. The Mangalore-Hassan railway line, which comes under South Western Railway Zone, was commissioned for freight traffic on May 5, 2006. The trial run on the route began in January 2006.

Though it was initially thought that the commissioning of railway line for freight traffic would boost export traffic, especially iron ore from the Bellary-Hospet region, now imported commodities such as fertilisers, coal and wheat are contributing a significant share to the railway-bound cargo movement at the port.

Rail facilities

Mr P. Tamilvanan, Chairman of the New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT), told Business Line that the port had kept its facility such as the railway marshalling yard ready for the railway-bound traffic. At the end of January 31, the port handled 24.84 lakh tonnes of railway-bound cargo against the total annual traffic of 15 lakh tonnes in 2005-06. The authorities are hopeful of the port achieving 30 lakh tonnes (3 million tonnes) throughput in railway-bound cargo this fiscal.

Marshalling yard, a major infrastructure required for handling railway-bound traffic at the port, has been upgraded to meet the preset requirements. At present, the NMPT's marshalling yard at Panambur near the port has nine lines. The port authorities now plan to go in for four more lines. Added to this, the authorities are contemplating to lay one more line inside the harbour. The marshalling yard stretches over 80 acres near the harbour. To provide more facilities to railway-bound cargo at the port, the authorities also plan to construct four warehouses. Already, the port has invited tenders from private players for the construction of two warehouses.

Fertiliser tops the list

Till January 31, the port handled 5.87 lakh tonnes of railway-bound fertiliser cargo against the total annual figure of 4.27 lakh tonnes during 2005-06. Mr Tamilvanan said the fertiliser cargo is being transported by railway line to Bhopal, Ongole, Ananthapur, Kolhapur, Tiruchi, Jodhpur, Muradabad, Vadodara, Davangere, Shimoga, Farukkabad, Ludhiana, Verna, Itarsi and Hospet. The total fertiliser cargo handled at the port stood at 8.48 lakh tonnes this year.

While fertiliser topped the railway-bound cargo at the NMP, other commodities such as coal, wheat and limestone made a beginning this year. Some of these commodities are new cargoes to the port during the year. This year, coal is being moved via railway lines to Bhadravati and Londa. At the end of January, 1.4 lakh tonnes of coal (against zero last fiscal) was transported on rail lines.

Wheat cargo made a comeback to the NMP after six years. In 1999-2000, the port handled 3.14 lakh tonnes of wheat. No wheat cargo was received till a consignment reached the port on August 29, 2006. This fiscal, the port handled 17,904 tonnes of railway-bound wheat cargo.

The commissioning of the railway line for freight traffic has helped the mine owners in Bellary-Hospet and Chitradurga regions to transport iron ore. This fiscal, 15.87 lakh tonnes (9.84 lakh tonnes) of iron ore fines was moved on railway line.

This has brought relief to the road-users, who were worried about the condition of the road. There have been complaints of overloaded iron ore lorries damaging the roads in the region.

The growth of various sectors and industries in the hinterland, especially in Karnataka and the neighbouring States, is likely to provide more opportunities for New Mangalore to boost its railway-bound traffic.