RailEnquiry

NAGPUR: Food Corporation of India (FCI) and South East Central Railway (SECR) are at loggerheads over blocking of freight train movement, since FCI is not lifting the transported material.

Since FCI is grappling with excess supply of foodgrains and very less demand, it has failed to lift the material from the railway godown and move it to its godowns. SECR senior divisional commercial manager (SrDCM) Pradeep Kumar said FCI delay in lifting material has led to congestion on routes and loss of manpower.

According to sources, FCI receives foodgrains from Balaghat and Narsinghpur for distribution in Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts. On August 21, a rake with 42 wagons containing 2,700 metric tonnes (MT) foodgrains reached Wadsa, but FCI did not lift the material. The goods train was held up for 58 hours.

FCI rebooked the rake and returned the material, but did not pay demurrage charges to SECR worth over 8 lakh at a rate of 600 per hour per wagon.

On August 24, another rake laden with foodgrains in 58 wagons arrived at Wadsa. The goods train has been held up for more than 60 hours. It has also led to stranding of some fertilizer-laden rakes at Arjuni.

"We have not received a positive response from FCI. The train has been held up and is causing congestion. We have intimated the Railway Board not to book FCI material," said Kumar.

FCI general manager DM Parmesh did not respond to calls. Area manager AK Paswan claimed to have paid around 25 lakh towards demurrage to SECR. "FCI is grappling with more supply than demand. We are facing a similar problem across Maharashtra," he said.

"Our godowns in Wadsa and Brahmapuri, having capacity of 6,000 mt and 9,500 mt respectively, are overflowing and hence the problem," Paswan said.

The FCI official said the monthly demand for foodgrains is 10,000-12,000 mt, but we have a huge surplus.

"We have foodgrains stock for three months. The higher-ups have been informed about the situation. We expect to improve the situation soon," Paswan said.