Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Monday, Oct 18, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Monday, Oct 18, 2004 |
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Logistics
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Shipping Kulpi port not feasible for ocean-going vessels, says expert Our Bureau
Mr Viren J. Shah (right), Governor of West Bengal, being presented a commemorative stamp on Rabindra Setu (Howrah Bridge) by Mr P.K. Chatterjee, Chief Post Master-General, as Dr A.K. Chanda (centre), Chairman, Kolkata Port Trust, applauds, during the inauguration of the 134th Anniversary of the port trust and the diamond jubilee celebration of the Howrah Bridge, in Kolkata on Sunday. - Parth Sanyal
Kolkata , Oct. 17 THE Kulpi port, which is proposed to be set up in West Bengal with private sector participation, has little future, according to Mr Satyesh C. Chakraborty, former IIM, Kolkata professor and former Director of Indian Institute of Port Management. "The Kulpi port is not a feasible proposition for ocean-going vessels," he said while speaking to newspersons after delivering the keynote address at the Kolkata Port Trust Anniversary Lecture programme on Sunday. Earlier in his address, he said that the dock, which would continue to be important for the Kolkata port, could be developed as an aggregation point of containerised traffic and therefore, barge movement of boxes between the Kolkata and Haldia docks must be encouraged.
"Historically, the Kolkata port has shifted steadily down the river. In the 16th century, the first jetty at a place up the Hooghly river was installed by the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch at Chinsurah, down the river. Then came the French, who set up facilities further down the river at Chandernagore, and then the English, who set up jetties at Kolkata." In past three decades, the main operation of the port has shifted further down the river to Haldia and now there is talk of having a new port at Sagar Island closer to the sea. All over the world, the river ports followed the same pattern, he added. The future of Sagar Island would depend on the types of the traffic the proposed port would handle, because the connectivity to and from the port, so important for the growth of a port, would be determined by the composition of traffic, he said. Dr A.K. Chanda, Chairman of the Kolkata Port Trust, said that the port was yet to exploit fully the potential of locations like the Sandheads and Sagar Island, where the draughts are highest among all ports in the country. In the past two years, the growth of traffic of the port at 10 million tonnes is the highest in absolute terms among all major ports. In the evening, a function was held to celebrate the 134th anniversary of the Kolkata port and diamond jubilee of the Howrah Bridge.
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