Six floating jetties are planned in Kerala under the ‘Sagarmala’ project of the Government of India which envisages development of the country’s ports. The jetties would come up at Chettuva in Thrissur district; Chaliyam, Koyilandy and Vellayil in Kozhikode district and Tanur and Ponnani in Malappuram district.
“As many as 250 floating jetties would be set up around the country,” said Sarbananda Sonowal, the Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways after an apex committee meeting of Sagarmala in New Delhi. Kerala’s Minister of Ports Ahamed Devarkovil also took part in the meeting.
In the first phase, 50 floating jetties are planned and the six ports in Kerala have found a place on this list. Further measures would be taken based on the report filed by the state, for which a deadline of six months has been given.
“Floating jetties, made of ferro cement, will enable safe boarding and de-boarding on boats,” Sonowal explained. Regarding movement of goods through the country’s ports, he said that there was a significant increase. “The hike was 9.68%t at Kochi,” the Minister said.
New projects
According to the Union Minister, 168 new projects have been included in the Sagarmala project. Of them, 33 are fishing harbours.
“An amount of Rs 58,700 crore will be spent for development of 75 coastal districts, including those from Kerala. In total, 802 projects worth Rs 5.5 lakh crore have been cleared,” he said.
“All these projects will be completed by 2035,” Sonowal added.
Kerala’s proposals
At the meeting, Kerala made the following proposals:
A Rs 70-crore plan at Beypore port for increasing capital dredging from 3.5 to 6 m for which the detailed project report (DPR) is ready. Other projects at Beypore are a Rs 261-crore port road and Rs 155 crore for rail connectivity. DPR has been finalized also for building a berth spending Rs 36 crore.
At Kollam port, a Rs 111-crore project envisages enhancing capital dredging from 9 to 12 m. A floating dry dock too is planned here.
Meanwhile, at Alappuzha beach, a Marina tourism project has been mooted at a cost of Rs 500 crore.
