Iron ore transporting from Gandhamardan mines of the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) at Suakati under Keonjhar mining circle has been stopped for the last eight days which has not only affected the productivity and profitability of the State owned public sector mining company, but also adversely affected other stakeholders depending on it.
Sources revealed that mainly two truck owners associations such as the Keonjhar Truck Owners' Association and the Anchalika Truck Owners’ Association supply trucks to the OMC mines for transporting iron ore from Suakati to different destinations of the country.
While the Keonjhar Truck Owners Association, the largest body of truck owners of the State, represents the truck owners of the entire district of Keonjhar, the Anchalika Truck Owners’ Association represents the truck owners of Suakati area only. In the year 2010, there was a dispute between the two associations over the allocation of loading slips to them by the OMC. It is said that on the basis of loading slips available, the two associations supply trucks to the buyers for lifting the materials from the mines.
However, during the tenure of Devayani Chakravorty as Collector, Keonjhar, the administration had fixed a certain ratio on the basis of which loading slips were issued. Since then everything was going on smoothly but after the entry of one youth BJD leader who claims himself as a close aide of MLA and BJD organisational secretary Pranav Prakash Das, in the transporting business, disturbances have started to erupt in the Suakati mining area.
It is alleged that the youth leader of ruling BJD tried to control the entire transporting business of the OMC in his name. Previously, the BJD youth leader was the right hand of former Minister and MLA, Ghasipura Badri Narayan Patra but they fell out with each other over transporting business in Bamnipal Ferro Alloys plant near Harichandanpur of Keonjhar district. And the present transporting stalemate happened at Suakati when the BJD leader demanded to allocate more quotas in favour of the Anchalika Truck Owners’ Association on the ground that the number of trucks of the local people has increased. This is strongly objected to by the Keonjhar Truck Owners Association.
When contacted, Keonjhar Truck Owners Association secretary Suryanarayan Kar (Dilu Kar) said that their only demand is that the OMC stick to the agreement of 2010. He said tendering of the loading work could be done so that monopoly of certain people can be stopped and the expenditure of OMC on loading head can be minimised.
Locals said that they are already fed up with excessive political interference in the matter and wanted the administration to take a step soon to sort out the issue.
