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KOCHI: The automated fertiliser bagging unit at Cochin Port will soon start functioning. The trial run of the mechanised unit will start this week. The decision was taken at a meeting attended by Labour Commissioner, representatives of the Cochin Port Trust management, Kerala Head Load Workers Welfare Fund Board (KHWWB) and trade unions. “At the meeting held on Saturday, it has been decided to conduct the trial run of the unit this week in the presence of officials from the Labour Department, the KHWWB and the trade unions. The date of commencement of operation on a regular basis will be decided later,” said Cochin Port Trust traffic manager C Unnikrishnan Nair. Though the automated fertiliser bagging unit was procured in the first week of March, the Port Trust authorities were unable to operate it, owing to protest from trade unions who alleged loss of employment. Following this, the port management had recently written to the state government seeking intervention to solve the uncertainty regarding installation of the bagging unit. The management has decided to introduce mechanisation for clearing the bulk cargo after fertilisers imported by the FACT and the Indian Potash Ltd in November last year, remained in the godown uncleared for want of labourers. The Kerala Head Load Workers Welfare Board (KHWWB), supposed to supply labourers, was not able to provide enough labourers to clear the load. The shortage was due to compartmentalisation of labourers into various water-tight pools within the Welfare Board, where over 2,500 workers are registered. The issue of low rate of clearance of imported fertilisers had an adverse impact on the agricultural sector and resulted in skyrocketing of prices.
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