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Our Bureau

Kolkata, Oct 31

Dredging Corporation of India (DCI), at the instance of the Ministry of Shipping, has decided to transfer its dredger, Dredge XVI currently deployed at Sethu Samudram project, to the Hooghly River for undertaking maintenance dredging in the river near the Haldia dock.

Giving this information to Business Line, Dr A.K. Chanda, Chairman, Kolkata Port Trust, (KoPT) said Dredge XVI would most probably arrive at Haldia by November 2 and start operation immediately, thereafter.

The dredging in the Hooghly near Haldia dock would receive a big boost with the deployment of this dredger, Dr Chanda observed. Meanwhile, the board of trustees of KoPT, at its meeting held at Haldia had passed a resolution urging the Shipping Ministry to initiate move also to make available the DCI dredger, Dredge XVII, for dredging in the Hooghly.

But the problem is that Dredge XVII is required for post-monsoon dredging in at least four major ports — New Mangalore, Mormugao,Visakhapatnam and Paradip.

The KoPT Chairman conceded that the earlier plan to have the Russian dredger, Gorznov, transferred from Sethu Samudram to Hooghly river did not make much headway for various reasons. Right now there are as many as five dredgers deployed in the Hooghly and these are Dredge V, Dredge VI, Dredge IX which has been transferred from Paradip port, Dredge XII and Dredge XV.

With the arrival of Dredge XVI, the number will rise to six.

Another dredger, Dredge XIV, currently under repair, is expected to join the fleet in the Hooghly towards the end November.

Inquiries reveal that the right now the performance of the three dredgers, namely, Dredge VI, Dredge XII and Dredge XV, has been less than satisfactory due to various reasons.

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