Twin calamities not to hit mineral output, says EZMA

Rains, restrictions on road transport block 0.5 mt ore transport

Tropical storm Phailin and heavy rains thereafter in Odisha did affect mineral production to some extent, but the annual iron ore output of the state will not be affected by the twin calamities as miners will make up the production losses in subsequent months, said East Zone Miners' Association (EZMA).

"Mineral production normally remains slow during monsoon season, which lasts upto end of September or a couple of weeks in October. So the rains and cyclones did deter mineral output to some extent, but I do not think the annual output will drop," said Prabodh Mohanty, spokesperson for EZMA.

Odisha is the top producer of iron ore in the country with annual production surpassing 60 million tonne. During 2012-13, iron ore production in the state was 62.4 million tonne, despite a production cap of 52 million tonne. For the current financial year, the government has revised the cap to 57 million tonne.

EZMA said since mineral output is calculated on yearly basis, the miners will be able to produce 57 million tonne iron ore by the end of March.

"The mine owners will make up the production losses made during October in subsequent months," Mohanty added.

He said, it was evacuation of minerals, which suffered the most during the calamities.

After the storm and heavy rains that caused floods in the state, all the coastal districts have restricted iron ore truck movements to Paradip and Vishakhapatnam ports till the end of this month, for smooth transportation of relief materials. It has affected transport of nearly 500,000 tonne iron ore during the month so far, he said.

Out of these 500,000 tonne iron ore, 400,000 tonne was destined for Paradip port while the balance 100,000 tonne was to be sent to Vishakhapatnam port for further shipment.

Cyclone Phailin has devastated Ganjam district, which connects Vishakhapatnam with Odisha mines. The state government had earlier restricted truck transportation to the Andhra Pradesh port to minimise iron ore output, but recently decided to open the route before the twin calamities hit the state.

As per the data provided by Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Odisha received 277 per cent more rainfall than normal during October, affecting 10 districts including iron ore rich Keonjhar.