Dusty cargo, a headache to Chennai port

“We are in a Catch-22 situation,” said a senior official of the Chennai Port Trust, reacting to the Madras High Court order telling Chennai Port Trust to move coal and iron ore out of Chennai port to the nearby Ennore port.

“The court has given only four months time to move the two dusty cargoes. This is very little time for us to act. More important, it is going to be a problem what to do with the employees as Ennore — which is handling coal for the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board — is more mechanised than Chennai and most of the workers in the latter would be without any job,” said the official. The crux of the objection raised by the ChPT to shifting the cargo was that the port could lose revenue and nearly 5,000 people could be rendered jobless. However, the Court has directed the ChPT and Ennore Port Ltd to take care of these employees, and ensure that there is no retrenchment.