THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Adani Group has placed orders for 32 cranes for the Vizhinjam seaport project. Eight of the cranes fall in the 72-metre category used for loading and unloading shipping containers. The rest are smaller ones designed for the movement of containers inside the container yard.
The Vizhinjam project is back in the headlines with work on the 3.1 km breakwater halted due to scarcity of rock.
Heavy damage sustained by the dredgers during cyclone Ockhi in November had also affected the dredging of the channel approach to the proposed port. Sources at Adani Vizhinjam Port Pvt Ltd (AVPPL) said that the company has completed the erection of 260 piles that are crucial for the construction of the berths, a key component of the first phase of the project.
Efforts are also on, with the help of the state government, to sort out problems in rock procurement for the breakwater construction. Recent attempts at procuring rock from quarries in Nagaroor region in Thiruvananthapuram district had to be halted due to local protests.All-party meetings convened by the district administration had not helped solve the disputes. After the concession agreement with the state government was signed in September 2015, AVVPL had begun construction on December 5 the same year.
The first 900 days of work has also been marred by protests by residents in the project area and problems due to natural calamities like cyclone Ockhi and coastal erosion.However, the state government has refused to extend the deadline for phase one even though the Ahmedabad-based group has expressed doubts as to whether it will be able to stick to it.
One more interceptor vessel of Coast Guard to be commissioned
T’Puram: The Coast Guard is increasing its strength at Vizhinjam by adding one more interceptor vessel. This will take the number of interceptors at Vizhinjam to two. The newly-built Coast Guard Interceptor Boat (IB) ICGS C-162 will be commissioned the coming Tuesday by Chief Secretary Paul Antony at the Vizhinjam harbour, the Coast Guard said.
Inspector General Vijay O Chafekar, Commander Coast Guard Region (West), and other senior officers of the armed forces and the Central and the state government will attend the function. Interceptors are high-speed vessels used by the Coast Guard for patrolling the coastal waters.
The urgent need for strengthening the agency’s presence down south had become painfully evident during the Ockhi cyclone disaster last November when it and the Navy had to pull assets from Kochi and elsewhere to launch search and rescue operations to trace the missing fishermen. The Coast Guard’s plans for an air enclave in Thiruvananthapuram has also been in the pipeline for some time now, but is yet to materialise.