Freight operations in the city have been affected due to an imbalance in the availability of labourers at loading and unloading points. The Railways and road authorities are bearing the brunt with a huge load of goods piling up.
A senior railway official said loading and unloading of goods such as coal and liquefied petroleum gas have not been affected much. He said, “The issue is with manual loading and unloading of goods such as grains, cement and fertilizers. Since they are essential items, we are working with local district authorities to ensure that the rakes are unloaded.”
According to sources, the problem is two-fold: at certain places, rakes are waiting to be unloaded; and rakes transporting goods such as foodgrains and cement are not being loaded at source.
A senior Central Railway (CR)official said two rakes carrying steel are waiting to be unloaded at Kalamboli, while six others are awaiting their turn. A senior Western Railway (WR) official said rakes carrying cement or foodgrains have not entered the city for nearly a week as they are not being loaded at source. Officials said transportation of cement was the worst-hit with a 90% dip in loading being recorded.
The lack of labour is also affecting container traffic. Abhishek Gupta of the Bombay Goods Transporters Association (BGTA) said several trucks are stranded in parking lots in Kalamboli and Vashi as there are no labourers to unload them. He said, “Drivers can’t leave trucks unless they are unloaded. As they have already reached their destination, they won’t be paid for spending extra time there. Moreover, the situation at the parking lots is terrible as drivers don’t have access to food or water.”
Shalabh Goel, divisional railway commissioner, Mumbai Division, CR, said loading had dipped at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust too due to labour shortage. The Railways has suspended all passenger traffic, leaving only freight trains running. He said, “Mumbai has a unique geography and we have had to arrange cars to transport loco pilots and assistant loco pilots to the starting points of freight trains as many live in different parts of the city.” CR had surpassed its freight target of 2019-20 of ₹1,822.56 crore by March 25.
The lockdown has also affected parcel traffic, which used to be transported via passenger trains. Senior officials said medical items were often sent via parcel vans as they required low volume and had high value. Now, CR and WR have decided to run dedicated parcel trains.
