March 14: Around 200,000 metric tons of coal have been stuck at the Haldia Port of India after the Indian Railways refused to provide rail rakes to transport the Nepal-bound goods.

Nepali importers based in Birgunj have sought help from  Nepal’s Consulate in Kolkata to release the coal. Vice President of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry Madhav Rajpal has written a letter to the consulate in this regard. Rajpal, who is also a coal importer, informed that the Indian Railways have not provided rake at Haldia port for the past 12 days. According to him, no rake has been provided for Nepal due to increasing pressure of coal supply to power plants in India itself.

Consul General in Kolkata Ishwar Raj Poudel said that the consulate has already written letters to the Indian Railways to provide the required number of rakes. He said that they acted as soon as they were notified about the problem.

“About 52 rakes of coal are stuck at the port. Despite repeated requests to the Indian Railways, there is still no response,” said Rajpal. He added that the market is already facing shortage of coal as around 200,000 metric tons of coal is stuck at the port.

According to the Nepali importers, about 1.5 million metric tons of coal is imported to Nepal annually from India, Indonesia, the USA, Australia and South Africa. Coal imports have increased along with the growth of clinker-based cement industries in Nepal. Coal is an auxiliary raw material of the clinker industry. Coal is also used in brick kilns. According to the industrialists, two-thirds of the total imports of coal are consumed in the clinker industry.

Consul General Poudel is scheduled to inspect the Haldia port on Tuesday to resolve the issue. “We have already written to the southeastern office of the railways. We are going to conduct an on-site inspection of the situation in Haldia,” Poudel said. Haldia Port is 150 kilometers away from Kolkata port.