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The strike by about 150 private contractors' workers responsible for maintenance and operation of the Orissa-based National Aluminium Company's (Nalco) specialised BTAP rakes has brought to a halt the railway operation of the country's biggest aluminium plant, also hitting the East Coast Railway (ECoR).
Nalco owns 15 BTAP rakes, each comprising 45 specialised wagons, for captive use, i.e., transportation of alumina powder from the company's Damonjodi plant to Angul plant in one direction and to Visakhapatnam port in the other direction.
The Damonjodi plant produces alumina powder from bauxite and the production is partly exported through the port and partly sent to the company's Angul plant for producing metal (aluminium ingots).
The strike, continuing since March 12, has also hit movement of imported caustic soda from the port to Damonjodi and transportation of coal from collieries to Damonjodi.
On an average, two rakes of alumina powder and one rake of coal are loaded and transported every day, in addition to 10 rakes of caustic soda every month.
The Nalco authorities are worried because continuation of the strike might hit the production of metal in Angul plant. The stock of alumina powder in the plant is fast depleting.
ECoR, which provides all the coal rakes (Box N) and most of the caustic soda rakes (BTCS) for Nalco, is concerned because it has already lost several rakes of traffic. This being the busiest traffic season for the railways the loss is proving to be too much.
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