The Hindu Business Line : West Bengal keen to set up deep draft port

The West Bengal Minister for Commerce and Industry, Mr Nirupam Sen, recently met the Union Shipping Minister, Mr T.R. Baalu, and discussed the matter. The Shipping Secretary, the Chairman of Kolkata Port Trust and the senior officials of the West Bengal Government, including the Chief Secretary and the Commerce and Industry Secretary, were also present.

The West Bengal Government's anxiety to have a deep draft port is understandable. The present and the State's only port, Kolkata port complete with Haldia dock, being a riverine port suffers from the draft restriction caused by the poor navigability of the Hooghly river prone heavy siltation. The draft restriction prevents large vessels to call at the port with full load, causing enormous problems for both port authorities and users.

Kolkata Port Trust has been toying for some time with the idea of setting up a new port at Sagar Island which is closer to the sea and therefore, has a higher average draft. But the Union Government, it is learnt, is not convinced if the average draft at Sagar Island is high enough to justify a deep draft port. The present policy of the Union Government is to support creation of new port facilities only with deep draft. A deep draft port is one with an average draft of 16-17 metres so that large vessels such as Capesize bulk carriers (80,000 dwt and above) and Suezmax tankers (100,000 - 150,000 dwt) could call there with full load.

The present 10.5-metre draft at Sagar Island, though higher than what is currently available in either Kolkata Dock System or at Haldia, is low enough to be called a deep draft location. In fact, the establishment of a port at Sagar Island presupposes extensive dredging along the 10-km long approach channel to achieve the targeted draft of 12.5 metres - much less than what is required for a deep draft port.

The West Bengal Government had earlier planned to set up a port at Kulpi in partnership with a private promoter. The project is yet to get off the ground for whatever reasons. Since Kulpi is also located on the Hooghly river, the proposed port, it is felt, will not be free from the problem of poor navigability.

Any new deep draft port, it is therefore felt, should be a sea port for which a suitable location has to be identified. It might be noted that a proposal to create facilities for handling liquid bulk at Digha, now a seaside resort, was mooted several years ago. But the proposal did not make much headway as it presupposed laying of submersible pipelines over a long stretch under the sea.

The identification of the suitable location for a deep draft port on the sea front, it is learnt, may have to wait till Japan International Cooperation Agency makes up its mind on the preparation of the feasibility report on the proposed port project at Sagar Island. JICA's views will be known only in April, it is learnt.

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