Gadkari to inaugurate port operations in August

Work on infrastructural facilities at the Uppalam Old Port under way, says official

Union Minister for Road, Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate cargo operations which will resume from the port here in August.

Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy on Tuesday met Mr. Gadkari and apprised him of the progress of port development works. Mr. Gadkari has agreed to attend the inaugural function, slated to be held in the first week of August, a release from the Chief Minister’s Office said.

The Pondicherry Port had entered into an agreement with Chennai Port Trust to operationalise the port.

Work on improving the infrastructural facilities at the Uppalam Old Port had begun, said a port official. “Four godowns have been readied in the space to house the office of the Customs and port users. The port operations will begin once the dredging work is complete,” he added.

Berth being readied

A berth with a quay length of 150 metres and width of 25 metres had also been readied that can handle vessels with container capacity. A high-tech crane had also been stationed at the port premises for handling containers and shifting them to the godowns.

The Government of Puducherry had awarded the contract to Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) to dredge 3.75 lakh cubic metres of sand and deposit it behind the Gandhi statue to restore the beaches in front of the town.

However, the dredging process was delayed as the DCI faced a number of challenges, including the sub-optimal functioning of the high-tech dredger. The DCI engaged a trailer suction dredger to deepen the outer channel to enable commencement of port operations by the Chennai Port Trust. The dredging of the sea mouth is expected to be completed in the next two weeks, the official said.

As per the MoU, the Chennai Port will assist the Pondicherry Port in handling export of cargo which will be transported by sea to Chennai for shipping to overseas destination through mainline and feeder vessels.

The port will handle 0.3 million tonne cargo per annum initially. The capacity will later be expanded up to one million tonne. The officials said ports in Chennai had been too congested and cargo operators found it very difficult to move the containers from the ports.

The agreement would be on a revenue-sharing basis between the Chennai Port Trust and the Puducherry Port. The port will also handle cargo such as cement and steel.