The Hindu Business Line : Decline in East Coast Rly iron ore movement

Kolkata, Aug. 14 Iron ore movement in East Coast Railway (ECoR) has been badly hit on both the Kirandul-Kottavalasa (K-K) line and Daitari-Banspani (D-B) line, though for two different reasons, according to ECoR sources.

On the K-K line, the average daily loading has dropped to five rakes a day against normal 15/16 because of non-availability of ore. On the D-B line, three to four rakes are being loaded a day, on an average, as compared to the normal seven to eight because of the suspension of road movement of ore from certain mines to the nearest railheads.

A few days ago, National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) had assured the Railway Board that it would move on an average 13 rakes a day on the K-K Line. For the past one week or so, there has been no indent of rakes from NMDC to ECoR and on an average, only five rakes are being loaded.

‘Ore scare’

As a result, ECoR, which normally runs 35 rakes on the circuit, is now having as many as 26 rakes idling. NMDC sources attribute low loading to heavy rains in the area. However, inquiries reveal that the ore has become scarce in Kirandul area and no significant improvement is foreseen without the opening of the new mines.

The D-B area presents a different scenario. There being an acute shortage of fuel, particularly diesel, in the area, reportedly because of the strike by a section tanker operators, the road movement has dropped and, with it, the road transportation of ore from the mines to the railheads.

As a result, three loading stations, namely Tomca, Porjanpur and Goaldih, are virtually without any ore available for loading. Some loading is taking place at others stations like Daitari, Nayagarh, Sukinda and Keonjhar.

The number of indents too has dropped from 2,000 to around 400, it is learnt.

One reason for this is that unlike South Eastern Railway (SER), which is the major transporter of iron ore, ECoR serves mines located far away from the railheads, the minimum distance being over 20 km.

South Eastern Railway

In other words, for ECoR, road-bridging is inescapable. The sidings of SER, on the other hand, are located virtually at the pitheads.

However, SER too recorded a slight drop in loading in the current month, mainly due to heavy rain in the area. Till August 12, the average daily loading was 4,845 wagons as compared to 4,918 in the same period of July.

Till July, SER posted 12.42 per cent growth in ore loading at 39.38 million tonnes as compared to the same period of last year.

Meanwhile, ECoR, as the sources point out, recorded an impressive growth in imported coal loading at the ports of Paradip and Visakhapatnam, often by moving empty rakes into the ports, particularly to Visakhapatnam.

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