Odisha state government suspends movement of trucks to Paradip looking at traffic congestion.
Mineral lifting by truck transporters will be stopped for the next 5 days as the government of Odisha has decided to stop issue of electronic pass to truck owners till 17th of this month in order to regulate the over crowded Paradip-Daitari National Highway No.5.
Arabinda Kumar Padhee, RDC, Central Division has directed all the Deputy Directors of Joda, Sukinda and Koida mines to suspend issuance of e-passes to transporters till 17 November after a meeting held on Tuesday.
However it will not impact supply of iron ore in domestic market, though it will effect iron ore, pellets and chrome ore exporters in a limited way.
Plying and parking of these vehicles on the National Highway for days together cause immense traffic problems, including fatal road accidents, for the common people of the locality who also depend on this road.In view of this, there was a massive public demand to regulate the lifting of minerals from the mines of Jajpur, Keonjhar and Sundargarh districts.
The meeting chaired by Dr.Padhee decided that a maximum of 300 trucks from Sundargarh mines and 700 trucks from Jajpur and Keonjhar mines shall move towards Paradip taking the Daitari-Paradip National Highway.
According to the information provided by the Directorate of Mines, in comparison to 2012-13, dispatch of iron ore lumps and fines has increased during April-June and July -September quarters. By the end of September 2013, 34.90 Million Tonnes (MnT) iron ore lumps and fines were dispatched, while it was 29.10 MnT during corresponding period of last year.
Due to this, the number of trucks coming to the port town has increased drastically in the last few months. As per the sources, more than 5000 trucks carrying iron ore and chromite reaching the port town daily, while the capacity of unloading facility at Paradip Port Trust is hardly 1500 trucks.
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