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Advani, Nitish visit deserted Kandla

Vikram Vakil in Kandla

Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani and Agriculture Minister Nitish Kumar visited Kandla port on Wednesday. Kandla Port Trust chairman A K Jyothi briefed them about the damage caused to the facility in particular and the town in general.

Jyothi later told rediff.com, "The port has suffered a loss of Rs 1 crore on account of damage to electrical and mechanical equipment. Our jetties numbered 1 to 5 have been harmed, but 6 to 10 are not much damaged. We have called an expert from IIT Madras to help us out."

Kandla, a town with a population of 10,000, is now deserted. On our way from Gandhigaum to Kandla, we didn't come across a single vehicle. On a normal day here, 800 trucks would jam the town. The roads look like the moon surface and are no longer motorable. Salt factories have been smashed. Not a single person can be seen in the fields.

The damage is widespread. The hydraulic surveyor's office has been flattened. The weather bureau is a huge wreck. The Central Warehousing Corporation's facilities have been reduced to rubble. Even the customs office at the port has been damaged.

Same is the fate of the port's platform. The VHF signal tower has been bent. The railway lines, which carried imported goods to various parts of India and brought goods for export to Kandla, have cracked. Except for some security guards, we could not find a soul to talk to. An Indian Navy ship has been converted into a hospital where 150 civilians are under treatment.

The quake did not spare IFFCO's fertilizer plant either. Pipes carrying ammonia acid and phosphorous acid to the facility have also been damaged. The entire town now wears a depressing look.

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