KoPT initiative to operationalise Eden channel

The Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) board on Wednesday approved the commencement of the preliminary work required to operationalise the Eden channel, an alternative to the silt-clogged Auckland channel that is the current route of exit and entry into the Haldia port.

For the past few months, operations at the port have been severely affected due to heavy siltation in the Auckland channel which has led to a substantial reduction in parcel loads that vessels can ferry into the dock complex. KoPT, which administers Haldia port, has drawn up a list of requirements which will need to be put into place if the Eden channel, a route that the shipping ministry's technical advisory committee (TAC) had recommended opening to restore the facility’s ability to accommodate large vessels, was to be opened at the earliest.

The requirements include the initiation of a tendering process to invite parties for the removal of underwater impediments in the route, apart from the procurement of buoys and radar-guided navigational mechanisms.

“The board has given an in-principal approval to us for starting the preparatory work. We will be floating the tenders and this process should take about a month. We are moving quickly on the issue of buoys and the navigational aids as well,” KoPT Deputy Chairman A Majumdar said.

However, Calcutta-Hooghly Pilots’ Guild, the association of river pilots of the port, threw a spanner in the works by objecting to the opening of the alternative route and have asked for operations in the Auckland channel to continue. “The objections of the pilots will be referred to the TAC for their consideration,” Majumdar said.