KoPT Diamond Harbour container facility soon

Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) is planning to rely on rail and inland water connectivity to for 95 per cent of cargo evacuation from the upcoming container terminal at Diamond Harbour, 40 kilometers off Kolkata.

"We are not banking on road evacuation for cargo movement from the new container terminal, and have planned only 5 per cent cargo movement via road.", A K Chanda, chairman, KoPT said at the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry seminar on 'Impact of upcoming ports on the East Coast'. Total capacity for container handling would be 1.6 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) and was expected to hit 1.1 million TEUs in the first year. Meanwhile, of the 125 acres required for the container terminal, permission has been received for the 18 acres under director general of lighthouse and lightships.

Recently Sultanpur Fish Harbour has also given concurrence for two hectares (ha) that is a part of the nearly 6.18ha that is to come from the state government.

Around 17.4ha is in possession of the army and the Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), a public sector undertaking under the ministry of defence is in talks with the central ministry for the purpose.

The state government, to get the 16ha of private land, has decided to call an all-party meeting before the process of purchase or acquisition can begin.

According to highly placed sources in KoPT, a meeting is on the anvil as the state chief secretary has already written to the district magistrate of South 24 Parganas for the same.

Haldia is all set to get the eighth dredger on the 27th of this month. Chanda claimed that the draft in January is up by 0.1 meter compared to 7.1m in the same month last year.