Kandla faced storage problem due to Rajasthan riots

The road and rail traffic disruption between Rajasthan and Gujarat which lasted for nearly four days caused congestion at the storage facility of Kandla Port in Gujarat.

Rail and road network remained blocked between Rajasthan and Gujarat after rioting took place between Gujjar and Meena communities over the quota issue.

However, the problem did not go out of control as the situation lasted for only a short while. Mundra would have faced similar problems but for the fact that at present there is no major government import. However, both the port authorities faced difficulty.

Talking to Business Standard, a senior official of Kandla Port Trust(KPT) said on the terms of anonymity, "we faced a little trouble in our storage facility because the rail and road network was blocked for almost four days. Many consignments of imported fertiliser had to be stored at the port itself till the situation returned back to normalcy. We were saved from facing a major congestion problem as the problem was solved and rail and road networks became operational soon. Most of the fertiliser consignments had to be sent via Rajasthan and we were hoping that the situation returns to normalcy soon as it may have caused a major congestion at the port."

On the other hand, Mundra officials claim that the port did not face major difficulties because of the road and rail network blockage as there was no major import order from the government while other imports like crude oil and steel pipes are locally consumed.

But the situation certainly gave sleepless nights to the Mundra port authorities also. An official of Adani operated Mundra port said in terms of anonymity, "We were continuously monitoring the situation and hoping that normalcy is restored soon in the Rajasthan. We did not have any major import order from government so the port was saved from any congestion problem." He added that the ABG container terminal at Mundra Port might have faced a little slump in the container arrival from Rajasthan.

However, sources in both these ports say that marble export as well as import have been affected because of the rail and road network blockage in Rajasthan.

The situation at Kandla-Mundra port was created because of the riots that took place between Gujjar and Meena communities over the issue of quota for Gujjar community.

The problem started when on May 28 members of the Gujjar community blocked all major rail routes and roads. On Tuesday when the members of Meena community tried to unblock the road network, the Gujjars retaliated and violence broke out across the state. The situation lasted for four days.