Responding to the writ petition filed by the Haldia Bulk Terminals (HBT), seeking the intervention of the Calcutta High Court to restore law and order at Haldia Dock Complex (HDC), Justice Dipankar Datta directed, as an interim step, the district magistrate of East Midnapore and the superintendent of police to “ensure that no disruptive activities take place at berths No 2 and 8”. The court was specific that no retrenched workers or striking union members should come within 100 meters of the Haldia Dock Complex. Earlier, HBT, on account of mounting loss due to underutilization of the facility, threatened to suspend the operations at its berths 2 and 8; to avert this crisis, Kolkata Port Trust, through arbitration, had resorted to diverting more vessels to HBT’s berths. The seed of unrest was sown there; the workers of the other ports opposed it and, unfortunately, the untimely retrenchment of 275 workers by HBT watered it into an open confrontation. Much water has flown under the bridge. KoPT acted setting a deadline of October 19 for HBT to resume operations and HBT went to the court for a solution. Things have come to this pass; and we expect that this shall be an interim short pause, moving fast towards an amicable solution to the interests of all the stakeholders.
Friday, 19 October 2012
Calcutta High Court bars union activity at and around Haldia Complex
Responding to the writ petition filed by the Haldia Bulk Terminals (HBT), seeking the intervention of the Calcutta High Court to restore law and order at Haldia Dock Complex (HDC), Justice Dipankar Datta directed, as an interim step, the district magistrate of East Midnapore and the superintendent of police to “ensure that no disruptive activities take place at berths No 2 and 8”. The court was specific that no retrenched workers or striking union members should come within 100 meters of the Haldia Dock Complex. Earlier, HBT, on account of mounting loss due to underutilization of the facility, threatened to suspend the operations at its berths 2 and 8; to avert this crisis, Kolkata Port Trust, through arbitration, had resorted to diverting more vessels to HBT’s berths. The seed of unrest was sown there; the workers of the other ports opposed it and, unfortunately, the untimely retrenchment of 275 workers by HBT watered it into an open confrontation. Much water has flown under the bridge. KoPT acted setting a deadline of October 19 for HBT to resume operations and HBT went to the court for a solution. Things have come to this pass; and we expect that this shall be an interim short pause, moving fast towards an amicable solution to the interests of all the stakeholders.
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