VASCO
Days after Chief Minister Pramod Sawant categorically stated on the floor of the House that the government was serious in cutting down the coal handling at MPT, a Union president has warned of hitting the road.
President of Goa Port and Dock Employees Union (GPADEU) Laxmiklant Gaude -- affiliated to the MPT workers -- said the MPT was totally dependent on coal handling and that stopping or cutting down of coal handling would mean closure of MPT which would affect the lives of around 1400 employees and around 4500 pensioners.
Gaude hit out at NGOs and activists for linking the linear projects to the port and warned that the MPT employees will be forced to come on roads if the coal handling was cut down at MPT.
"MPT is totally dependent on coal as of now and some people who are agitating for self interest want the coal handling to be stopped which means the closure of the port”, he said adding “NGOs and activists are also linking the double tracking with the port which is not true”.
He also accused the NGOs of portraying a mammoth figure for coal handling at MPT and said the port could only handle 12 million tonnes of coal to the maximum.
“Some are claiming that port will handle 30 million tonnes of coal and for that port will have to build 4 to 5 berths at outer anchorage with an investment of Rs 5000 crore”, he said.
Gaude said MPT was a multi-commodity port earlier but in the absence of proper rail network and constant opposition many traders had refrained from associating with it.
"There is no proper railways network which affects business activities and hence many traders and handlers don't want to come to MPT. The main reason people don't want to associate with MPT is because there is constant opposition”, Gaude said.
As of now we have cruise terminals but no vessels because of Covid. “We may lose around Rs 10 crore revenue this year due to this”, Gaude said.
