THOOTHUKUDI: Owing to the absence of migrant labourers, fertilisers weighing at least one lakh tonnes have piled up over a month at the warehouses of Thoothukudi V O Chidambaranar Port Trust Estate. Stevedores’ agents claim that the productivity of a local labourer is just one-tenth of a migrant worker.
The fertilisers were supposed to be supplied to the southern states before the onset of the Southwest monsoon. The delay is likely to cost the farmers dear.
According to sources, a large-scale fertiliser importer unloaded 40,000 tonnes urea, 20,000 tonnes complex fertiliser and 40,000 tonnes potash at the port recently. Besides, the SPIC stocked 10,000 tonnes fertiliser at the warehouses outside its factory.
Meanwhile, vessels have called on the port with 20,000 tonnes complex fertiliser from Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT), 20,000 tonnes Muriate of Potash (MoP) from Mosaic company and 30,000 tonnes potash from Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO). Once these fertilisers are unloaded, they need to be packed and distributed to various places in time.
According to the district administration, of the 8,700 migrant labourers in the district, 5,500 were sent back to their respective States. The migrant labourers largely work in construction projects, stevedoring firms and small-scale industries. Stevedoring agencies bag, load and transport fertilisers across south India. The fertilisers are mostly packed in 50-kg capacity bags.
The real workhorses
Due to the absence of migrant labourers, the stevedore agents had to rope in local labourers to pack the fertilisers. However, agents opine that the local workforce is not that big of a workhorse. A stevedore agent said, “A typical migrant labourer packs at least 10-tonne fertiliser every day. However, a local labourer packs only one tonne in a day. Though loading happens round the clock, the local workers do not come for work after dusk.”
Karthikeya Prabhu, a stevedoring company owner, alleged that officials forced the migrant labourers to leave the city though the sector has a handful of works. “Had they sent back only the jobless workers, the stevedoring works would not have been affected. If they send the remaining workers too, the sector will face an acute manpower shortage,” he noted.Tuticorin Stevedores Association President T Velshankar said that the migrant workers are ready to come back as they are struggling to make ends meet”.