Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Apr 8: In spite of a steep fall in the handling of iron ore because of ban places on its transportation in the district road, New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) registered only a margical decline in the cargo handled by it during the financiall year 2009-10 as compared to the earlier year.

Giving comparative details of the performance of the port during the last two years, chairman of NMPT, Tamilvanan, informed at a press conference held here on Wednesday April 7, that NMPT handled 35.52 million tonnes of cargo for the year 2009-10 as compared Rs 36.69 million tonnes for the previous year. “In the previous year, we had handled iron ore fines weighing 86.01 lac tonnes, while this went down to 54.50 lac tonnes this year. During this year, handling of coal, containers and lime stones registered a remarkable increase. All out efforts were made to meet the target set to the port for handling of the cargo,” he explained.

He added that the coal handling went up by 44.68%, lime stone by Rs. 46.87%, timber by 58.68%, edible oil by 25.79%, and that the handling of iron ore by Kuremukh Iron Ore Company by 37.34% during the year 2009-10. “We have requested the Railway Board to increase the number wagons to facilitate increase in the transportation of goods by train. If this is supported by ore transportation through trucks, the performance of the port will improve further,” he added.