The recent heavy rains in Gujarat have led to a delay in export consignments of wheat, rice and flour from the Kandla port as cargo handling of these commodities has been hit due to incessant rains in the Kandla region.
Vessel agents are refusing to handle cargo of these commodities, said Omprakash Dadlani, spokesperson of Deendayal Port Trust (DPT) at Kandla. Dadlani, however, said cargo handling of coal, salt and other engineering products remained unaffected at the port.
Post the ban on exports of wheat, a large quantity of the commodity has been lying in and outside Kandla port since last week of May. “Fortunately, these wheat stocks have either been shifted to warehouses or exported, following the government’s decision to allow wheat exports on a government-to-government basis,” said Dinesh Gupta, president, Kandla Custom Brokers’ Association.
Meanwhile, official sources at Adani Group said that operations remained normal at Mundra port despite heavy rain. Sources in Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) also said that operations at Jamnagar refinery haven’t been affected due to rain. “We have an excellent drainage system in the refinery area. Hence, there wasn’t any water logging inside the complex. Besides, workers’ colony and Reliance township is situated in proximity to the refinery. As a result, refinery staff doesn’t have any problem coming for work and going back home post duty hours even during heavy rain,” said a senior RIL executive.
Ahmedabad witnessed heavy rains up to 18 inches on Sunday and many areas in the city observed water logging problems. Industrial estates situated in and around the city were forced to shut Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) for a day,” said Shailesh Patwari, former president of Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI). There were problems of water logging at CETP areas of some industrial estates, claims Patwari, who is also chairman of Naroda Enviro Projects. Industries at Changodar industrial area remained closed for a day due to heavy rains, said Ajit Shah, secretary of Federation of Industries Association (FIA), Ahmedabad chapter.
Sources in Tata Motors’ car manufacturing facility said that despite heavy rainfall in Sanand area, there wasn’t any problem as far as production activities are concerned. Over the past 3-4 days, highly industrialised South Gujarat is witnessing continuous rains, but there hasn’t been closure of any industrial plant yet. Dahej, Bharuch, Ankleshwar, Hazira, Surat and Vapi, hubs of the chemical, pharmaceutical, textile and other units, too have been operating normally. However, approach roads of Dahej industrial areas have been damaged due to rain which resulted in traffic jams and slower movement of trucks carrying industrial products — both raw materials as well as finished products, said Vinod Patel, an industrialist in the area.
