By IANS
New Delhi : The government has proposed to establish a Vessel Traffic System (VTS) in the Gulf of Kutch to regulate the shipping traffic, the Lok Sabha was informed Wednesday.
VTS is a marine traffic monitoring system established by harbour or port authorities, similar to air traffic control (ATC) for aircraft.
“The project consists of civil engineering work and installation of VTS equipment. It comprises establishment of one master control centre at Kandla (Gujarat), nine radar stations spread over the entire Gulf of Kutch, six port monitor stations, two radio direction finders, meteorological and hydrological sensors and associated microwave link,” T.R. Baalu, Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, told the house.
“The civil engineering work will consist of the construction of 10 60-metre, one 50-metre and two 30-metre-high roller-compacted concrete (RCC) towers, one master control centre building and other ancillary buildings. The civil engineering work is spread over 17 sites,” the minister said.
According to Baalu, the project is likely to be completed by October 2008.