By IANS,
Kolkata : The Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) will deploy at least 10 dredgers by December this year to clear the silt at the channels of Haldia port, an official said here Friday.
“There will be 10 dredgers altogether by December 2008 to clear the channels at Haldia port. Presently four dredgers are operating at the channels where siltation has caused a severe problem for the movement of cargo handling,” said KoPT chairman A.K. Chanda during an interactive session organised by the Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce (MCC).
He said: “By end of this October, three more dredgers will join the desiltation work at the Haldia port. In November, at least eight dredgers will function to clear the silted channels at Haldia. We’re primarily focusing on the Jellingham navigation channel of the Haldia Dock Complex (HDC).”
Chanda said two dredgers would be chartered from abroad and would be pressed into service in December.
Talking about the Diamond Harbour terminal jetty, he said KoPT was in talks with the district administration to acquire about 40 acres of private land in the area for constructing the jetty.
“We require about 125 acres of total land to develop the terminal jetty at Diamond Harbour,” Chanda said, adding the company is now focusing on an efficient cargo handling in the near future with the help of advanced technological support.
KoPT is the third largest handler of cargo in India. It carried 57.3 million tonnes of traffic in 2007-08.