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Paradip: life after the storm

George Iype in Paradip

Three weeks after the super cyclone ravaged coastal Orissa, Paradip, one of the largest ports in eastern India, is still struggling to return to normalcy as rail links, power supply and telephone lines are yet to be restored.

The devastation caused by the cyclone has severely affected ship movement, crippled the cooling towers of phosphoric and ammonia plants and will considerably delay the commissioning of some major projects in Paradip.

A large number of fishing trawlers have run aground near the port and the port's cranes no longer work. The navy is yet to fully clear the 600 metre-stretch of the berth for ship movement.

As electricity is yet to be completely restored, the Paradip Port Trust is handling cargo with its own cranes. Most PPT employees have been absent from work for the last three weeks as many of them fled to their native places after rumours that the ammonia storage tank at Paradip Phosphates Limited was leaking.

"The cyclone did not fully destroy the port's facilities. But it has severely affected its operations. It will take some weeks or months before we start functioning smoothly," PPT chairman S K Mohapatra told rediff.com

Soon after the cyclone, he said many technicians and employees of private contractors and companies left town fearing that the ammonia tanks would burst leading to another Bhopal-like tragedy.

"We have assured the employees there is no cause for panic as the ammonia tanks are in perfect condition. The port will resume operations once the employees come back for duty," he said.

Mohapatra said some major projects and major exports from the ports will be delayed considerably due to the damage to electric stations and rail links.

The Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation, which has exhausted its iron ore stocks at Vizag port, is now pressing for stocks from the Paradip port immediately. MMTC's Japanese clients have been demanding stepped up supply.

A Chinese vessel, that was to load more than 60,000 tonnes, was turned away last week as ship movement in Paradip was found to be impossible.

The PPT's thermal coal stock -- that accounts for more than 50 per cent of the port's traffic -- is also fast depleting. Port authorities disclosed that the ground stock of the thermal coal stood at only 200,000 tonnes.

Since vast stretches of the Cuttack-Paradip rail line has been destroyed, the transportation of bulk items such as coal and iron ore to Paradip have stopped. Worst-affected by the rail link damage are major steel companies like the Steel Authority of India Ltd and the Tata Iron and Steel Company, both of whom are yet to evacuate nearly 100,000 tonnes of coking coal from Paradip.

But the company worst-hit by the cyclone is Paradip Phosphates Limited, a central government public sector undertaking. PPL's loss is estimated to be around Rs 80 million as more than 30 per cent of the 30,000 tonnes of fertilisers stocked in the plant were washed away by the tidal waves. The cyclone also destroyed the cooling towers of PPL's phospheric acid and sulphuric acid plants.

PPL, with a workforce of 2,600, has been reeling under heavy losses for many years now. While the company's accumulated losses is estimated to be around Rs 2,500 million, the cyclone's impact has forced the PSU management to seek central aid for the financial and physical reconstruction of PPL.

The major project affected by the cyclone is the Rs 7,000 million mechanical coal handling plant at Paradip. Project work on the plant which is expected to handle more than 20 million tonnes of mechanical coal annually, started in 1997. It was scheduled for commissioning in June. Officials now say the damage caused by the cyclone will stretch the Asian Development Bank-assisted project to 2001.

Similarly, the cyclone will considerably delay the commissioning of the Oswal Group's DAP plant as the pipeline being laid between the port and the factory for the movement of ammonia was completely destroyed.

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