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The Chennai port has estimated the damage to port infrastructure because of Cyclone Vardah that hit the city on December 12 at ₹22 crore.
The Chennai Port Trust has sought financial assistance from shipping ministry as contingency funds to tide over the situation, according to its chairman P Raveendran.
A 2-km-long conveyor belt at the non-functional semi mechanised coal handling plant was badly damaged. Though it was not functional, there was a book value, which was lost, he told BusinessLine .
The Vessel traffic management system (VTMS) data buoy with sensors, and a few other buoys were also badly damaged. One of the buoys drifted all the way to Kalpakkam, and was retrieved, he said.
Godowns damagedThere were damages to a number of godowns with roofs coming off and to fenders at Bharathi Dock. Breakwater tetra pads and safety walls were also affected, he said. Raveendran said container operations were slowly returning to normal, as power is yet to be fully restored. Usually, there is no waiting time for container ship to berth.
However, five container ships are now waiting outside the port due to slow work in the terminal owing to power fluctuation.
“We got very good support from the State government in restoring power quickly, else things would have been bad for us,” he said.
The port trust had put in place a contingency plan a day before cyclone hit the city. Six ships that were at the port were shifted to high seas before the onset of the cyclone.
All the port crafts were secured, the booms of harbour mobile cranes were lowered, locked and secured, and quay cranes at container terminals were secured well in advance, he said.
Obstruction causedDue to high wind velocity and longer duration, most of the trees in the port area were uprooted causing obstruction to movement of people and vehicles.
According to MA Bhaskarachar, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Kamarajar Port Ltd, on a rough estimate the damage to port properties could be ₹10 crore.
This is over and above the losses to BOT operators and contractors that are not known.
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