Route rationalisation introduced by Railway Board through its notification on April 1, in 2011 has turned out to be a big bane for export and import cargo operators from Visakhapatnam.
Appeals by several operators to see reason in their demand to end circuitous route to reduce handling cost as well as time for dispatch of various commodities have so far not yielded any results. Incidentally, the policy might have filled the coffers of the Railways but led to growing preference to alternate ports like Krishnapatnam and Paradeep by the port users.
Sources told The Hindu that all cargo from Visakhapatnam including all marshalling yards Vadlapudi, Jagayyapalem, Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Visakhapatnam and Gangavaram Ports are forced to transport via Duvvada-Balharshah route instead of Titlagarh-Raipur, which is closer by 300 km. It is putting an additional burden of around Rs.5 lakh per train from Viskhapatnam to Delhi and vice versa.
“Incidentally, for sending cargo to Raipur, we are forced to route it through Nagpur and Raipur, a distance of 1,200 km instead of Vizianagaram-Titlagarh section, which is just 550 km,” said Sravan Shipping Services Managing Director G. Sambasiva Rao.
The worst-hit due to the policy is Visakha Container Terminal, which is considered one of the deep-drafted all-weather container berths with a plan to expand it with an investment of Rs.633 crore.
“The Railways is forcing us to route out cargo through certain designated places putting a heavy burden on us. Increase in landing cost of coal is also pinching hard the consumers by increasing power tariff. To put a full-stop to the problem, electrification work of second track between Raipur-Titlagarh lane should be expedited,” Visakhapatnam Stevedores’ Association president Krishna Kumar said.
Following several representations from the shipping industry, the Ministry of Shipping has decided to set up a committee to monitor railway infrastructure so as to remove bottlenecks faced in ensuring faster evacuation of cargo.
