As part of its focus on developing ports to boost trade and travel using the water route, the Government has given a go-ahead for increasing channel depth at all major ports to 20 metres from the current 14 to 16 metres. In a novel initiative, the Shipping Ministry has also decided to use the soil dug up while dredging for road building.
In a written communication to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) last month, the Ministry of Shipping has asked them to use the soil and other gravel dug out during the dredging exercise for highway construction.
“We have received a note from the Ministry of Shipping for lifting the soil dredged out from the ports and riverbeds for use in construction work,” said an official from MoRTH.
“So far, a lot of road developers would illegally procure sand and soil for construction. This sanction from the Ministry of Shipping for officially lifting the excess soil from the ports will result in a steady supply of raw material, besides bringing down costs of construction,” he said.
Meanwhile, an official from the Ministry of Shipping said that it was at Nitin Gadkari’s initiative that this was decided. “Since he is the Minister for both the Ministries co-ordination will not be a problem, plus this move will help both the Ministries in their development work,” said the official.
“Draft is very important for a port. We have decided to take the draft of all the ports to 18 metres and from there up to 20 metres, which means a lot of soil and sand will be dug out,” said the official.
“At the moment, most of the major ports in the country spend hundreds of crores for dredging due to high soil erosion annually to maintain the draft. A lot of soil, which goes back into the channel is that which was dug out at the time of dredging,” he said, adding, “Now if we transport that soil for road building and build barriers along the coasts, this will help maintain the draft and also prevent erosion, and thereby reduce the requirement for frequent dredging,” he said.
There are 12 major ports in the public sector in the country, including the JNPT, Mumbai, Kandla, Kochi, Chennai, Kolkata, Visakhapatnam and Mangalore among others. The Government plans to increase the draft from the current 14-16 metres to 20 metres.
The Shipping Ministry has initiated a project for increasing the draft at the Mormugoa Port as a PPP.