High tension at Gangavaram Port, 10 cops hurt

Tense situation prevailed at Gangavaram Port in Visakhapatnam on Thursday as both permanent and contract workers tried to barge into the premises to impose a ‘total closure’ to press their demands.

At least 10 police personnel were injured in a scuffle at the barricades. These included a woman cop. The police made a mild lathi- charge to bring the situation under control. The workers led by the port union assembled at the main gate in the early hours of the day. The police had put up barricades some 100 metres from the main gate.

A constable suffered head injury when a stone was hurled at him by the unionists. They beat up the inspector Ramu of New Port police station with sticks. Amid the workers’ offensive, an ACP and an inspector were hurt as they fell on the barbed wire.

The situation continued tense till the afternoon. The port management called the union leaders for talks and sought five days' time to discuss and resolve the demands. “The management did not agree to our main demand to increase wages and sought more time,’’ said union leader Ganga Rao.

The union sought a hike in the wages from '14,000 to '36,000 with a basic pay of '22,000, withdrawal of previous cases and re-induction of 27 employees who had been removed from service for various reasons, appointment of 600 more fishermen as the port has built another berth, building of a fishing jetty as was promised at the time of land acquisition etc.

The union leader said the port snatched away the livelihood of fisherfolk families of Dibbapalem, Srinagar Dibbapalem, Gangavaram, Jalaripallipalem, Peddapallipalem and Chinnapallipalem villages and did not implement the promises made to them.

The management promised them jobs and an honorarium till the jetty was built. But nothing has been done so far, he said.

“The port gave 300 jobs each to Gangavaram and Dibbapalem. Now the port has expanded, built one more berth and earned a profit of Rs 700 crore,” union leaders claimed.

Earlier, a letter was sent to Visakhapatnam district collector purportedly by the Gangavaram Port, in which the management offered Rs 10,000 as  ex gratia as part of its CSR to all the employees, Rs 1,000 as a one-time increment valid for 2024-25 and which would not be recurring.

It said the five disciplinary cases against errant staff would be handled on merit and the past cases would not be reopened. It also said the ‘no work no pay’ rule would be adhered to and this was non-negotiable.