Creaking infrastructure is set to throw foodgrains exports through Kakinada port out of gear; so much so that the exporters are mulling to switch over to other ports such as Paradip, Visakhapatnam and Chennai even at a higher cost.
Foodgrains exports
Due to various reasons, mainly political, the Union Government has allowed exports of five million tonnes of foodgrains, mainly rice, through Kakinada anchorage port with the stipulation that the shipments have to be completed by December.
However, if the present situation is any indication, achieving the target within the stipulated period will be difficult, if not impossible. It might be noted that Kandla port, which too suffers from congestion problem, has been designated for handling foodgrain exports from December when the North Indian crops will become available.
Railway problems
At Kakinada, the railway has its own bottlenecks and the anchorage port its own limitations.
The foodgrains unloaded from railway rakes have to be reloaded into barges for the third round of loading into ships anchored off the port. An estimated 50 barges are available for loading but only 18 barge loading points and each barge can handle only 500 tonnes a day.
The problems, all adding to the cost, therefore, are many such as multiple handling, poor barge loading rate and, consequently, the detention of rakes attracting demurrage which has been hiked six times recently.
There are no proper sheds, no landing platforms and even basic lighting facilities leave much to be desired. The shortage of storage space is acute, it is learnt.
Congestion
No wonder, ever since the export started about a month ago, the throughput, it is reported, has been around two lakh tonnes. It has also thrown up the problem of congestion at the port where nearly 20 ships are waiting to be loaded, with foreign flag carriers being keen to skip the port.
The foodgrains from neighbouring states such as Chhattisgarh and Orissa are being brought to the port by trains whereas those from different parts of Andhra Pradesh by road.
But the unsatisfactory road condition within Kakinada has thrown up myriad problems such as congestion, pollution and accidents.
The Union Minister of State for Defence, Mr Pallam Raju, who is from Kakinada, visited the port recently and expressed his dissatisfaction at what he saw.