NT NETWORK
PANAJI
Mormugao Port Trust’s (MPT) redevelopment of berths 8, 9 and barge berths, proposed more than one-and-half years back, finally got the green signal from the government on Wednesday.
The cabinet committee on economic affairs gave its approval for the redevelopment project on public private partnership (PPP) mode at an estimated cost of Rs 1,145.36 crore with a completion date of 36 months from the date of award of the contract.
Reconstruction of the three old berths envisages replacing 38-year-old equipment with new facilities for handling a variety of cargo like iron ore, bauxite, gypsum, limestone, fertilizers, steel coils and other general cargo. Post redevelopment, the berths will have deeper draft of 19.5 metres and be able to cater to ships of 1,85,000 DWT.
Existing capacity of the berths is 13 million tonnes but efficient operations due to redevelopment will result in incremental capacity of 6.22 tonnes per annum. Reconstruction includes new structures, railway lines, dredging, reclamation and installation of equipment.
Other than giving boost to MPT, the project is also expected to help the local economy by generating employment. It is expected to result in 400 new jobs, direct or indirect. The cabinet committee which gave its approval to the project said state-of-the-art technology will be used to address environmental concerns while handling cargo. Iron ore will be brought to the ports by barges and unloaded through grab unloaders and discharged into hoppers for stock piling. For cargo retrieval, bucket wheel reclaimers will be used and loaded onto vessels by stackers.
Similarly, all conveyance systems will be covered and dry fog systems will be installed so that there is no dust emission. Additionally, water spraying systems will be installed at specific discharge points to mitigate the pollution problems. The cabinet committee that gave the go-ahead for the berth redevelopment expects the project to be a boon to the Goan economy.
Berths 8 and 9 were exclusively used for exports of iron ore during the period of mining boom. After mining shutdown, the MPT board had taken the decision to convert them into general cargo berths that are capable of handling iron ore as well as other cargo.