KARWAR : Karwar City Municipal Council (CMC) and Karwar Development Authority (KDA) are opposing the construction of breakwater by Karwar Port near Children Park’s in the city. The CMC has convened a special general body meeting next week to discuss the matter. For the second phase of development of Karwar port, the departments of Public Works and Ports and Inland Water Transport had chalked out plans and sent a proposal of `125 crore to the state government for construction of 820-mtr north breakwater on the Ravindranath Tagore beach in the city. Based on the proposal, the government earmarked necessary fund in its 2017-18 annual budget. Recently, the Karwar port had floated a tender for the project and now, the Karwar CMC and KDA are up in arms against it.
KDA chairman Sandeep Talekar told Express: “If the port constructs a breakwater near children’s park of the beach, the people will be barred from entering that section. Thousands of acres of land and several beaches have already been handed over to the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Karwar Port for various development works. Now, only Ravindranath Tagore beach is left for the people of Karwar. If the port constructs a breakwater, the people will lose that too.
“If they construct breakwater near children’s park, the port area will be extended to the park. While loading and unloading goods, including mining products, the dust will affect the residents of the city,” Talekar said.CMC commissioner S Yogeshwar said there is a plan for convening a special general body meeting based on the demand of counsellors. It is said that during the meet, the CMC is likely to pass a resolution opposing construction of breakwater.When contacted, the port officials said they have not received any communication from the CMD regarding their opposition to construction of breakwater.
KARWAR PORT
Karwar port is one of the important ports in the state
It is acclaimed as one of the best natural all-weather port
At present, the port has only 250 mtr west breakwater
Under the second phase, another 145 mtr breakwater is being constructed on the west side
This will help the port increase its business activities
All commodities, including ‘B’ and ‘C’ petroleum products and palm oil are the major imports at the port