BJP leader and trustee of the Paradip Port Trust (PPT) Pratap Mishra on Tuesday rejected Excise Minister Dr Damodar Rout’s allegations that the Centre is trying to weaken Paradip port to promote the Dhamra Port in Bhadrak district and asserted that there is no such move by the Narendra Modi Government. “Excise Minister Damodar Rout is unnecessarily creating a controversy by bringing a baseless allegation,” Mishra said in a statement.
Stating that the Odisha Government had initiated steps for establishment of the Dhamra Port, Mishra wanted to know whether the Centre or the State Government helped the Adani Group to acquire the port from the joint venture of the Tata and the land T companies later. Mishra said Rout should explain to the people as to whether Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had favoured the Adani Group or not.
Mishra alleged that the BJD leader has raised some irrelevant points relating to the Paradip Port after several projects for its improvement were approved at the PPT board meeting on May 29. Referring to the allegation of increase in cargo handling by Dhamra port, Mishra said loading and unloading of cargo in the private port is completely mechanised whereas in Paradip port, it is semi-mechanised. He said Rout is going against the interest of 1,200 workers engaged in these operations by raising this baseless issue.
The BJP leader said during the UPA Government, the State Government had not bothered about corruption in the Paradip Port. After the NDA came to power, a CVC probe has been initiated into several irregularities committed during the UPA period, he said. To Rout’s allegation of transfer of Odia offiers, Mishra said officials have been transferred from the Paradip port to other ports as per a policy adopted by the NDA Government. The officers, who have completed five years, were transferred as per the policy. He said steps have been initiated to post officials from Odisha in top posts of the port.