KOCHI: The trial run of the automatic fertiliser bagging unit installed at the Cochin port will be held on Friday. Decision regarding the regular operation of the unit will be taken after the trial run. As decided in a meet last month, the trial run will be held in the presence of the officials from the Department of Labour, Kerala Headload Workers Welfare Board (KHWWB) and the trade unions.
Earlier, the representatives of various stakeholders had convened a meeting to discuss indefinite delay in the operation of the unit. The decision to hold a trial run of the unit was taken at a meeting attended by the Labour Commissioner, the representatives of Cochin Port Trust management, KHWWB and the trade unions on April 21.
The automated fertiliser bagging unit, which reached the port in the first week of March, had been lying idle due to the protesting trade union who alleged loss of employment.
Following this, the port management had written to the State government requesting intervention to solve the uncertainty regarding the installation of the bagging unit.
The bagging unit consists of grabs, hopper, bagging plant, weighing machines, stitching machines and a conveyor belt. Each bagging plant comprises two bagging lines. The bagging unit can handle 140 tonnes of fertiliser (2800 bags of 50 kg) per hour.
The port management had decided to introduce mechanisation for clearing the bulk cargo after 24,000 tonnes of urea and 27,000 tonnes of potash imported by FACT and Indian Potash Limited (IPL) respectively, in November last year, remained in the godown for the want of labourers.
KHWWB, which was supposed to supply labourers, was not able to supply adequate number to clear the cargo. The Welfare Board was able to supply only around 40 workers on an average against a demand of 120 daily. The cause of the shortage was the compartmentalisation of labourers into various pools within the Welfare Board.