The Hindu Business Line : Consignments stuck — Govt urged to end impasse at JNPT

THE importers and exporters whose consignments are stuck in the Jawaharlal Nehru port, including the Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal, want the Union Government to intervene immediately to end the impasse caused by the recent floods in Mumbai.

The Government, it is felt, must do something so that the traders are encouraged to use other ports on both the east and the west coasts.

Too much dependence on a single port, in this case JNPT, has brought untold sufferings to the trade, particularly after the recent deluge.

According to one estimate, 14,000 import containers bound ICDs (inland container deports) are lying uncleared in the terminals of the Jawaharlal Nehru port. To complicate the matter further, an additional 1,000 boxes with imports are believed to be arriving every day at the port for dispatch to various ICDs. An estimated 5,000 export containers, all bound for the same port, too are awaiting despatches from various north Indian ICDs.

Capping it all, more than 50 rakes, each carrying about 90 boxes, mostly with exports, are detained at various points on the railway networks connecting the Jawaharlal Nehru port with Delhi, according to trade sources. No wonder, the various ICDs and container freight stations are virtually bursting at the seams. In short, goods worth of thousands of crores of rupees are stuck at various places.

The JNPT terminals, which include two Nhava Sheva International Container terminals, account for nearly 60 per cent of the country's container throughput, and the bulk of it is linked to various ICDs mostly located in the northern region.

There is a proposal to reduce the congestion at the Jawaharlal Nehru port by undertaking barge movement of boxes to the Mumbai port. However, such an exercise, it is pointed out, is unlikely to yield dramatic results as not more than two rakes, equivalent of 180 TEUs, could be cleared every day in the process.

The repair work of the rail lines between Delhi and the Jawaharlal Nehru port is in progress, but the traders keep their fingers crossed. Normal operation on the route, it is feared, might not be restored before next month.

A section in the trade therefore emphasises the need for appropriate government measures for redistribution of traffic.

It is felt the exports to and imports from the Far East and China, whose volumes are steadily increasing, should be routed through the east coast ports, particularly those ports offering proper facilities.

There is no reason why traffic to and from the Far East should congest the Jawaharlal Nehru port. Precisely the same reason why the connectivity between the east coast ports and the northern region, which generates a chunk of traffic, should be improved.

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