News Analysis India

Tag: Kolkata port

  • Cyclone Yaas: Tidal water flows into Haldia dock; massive rainfall pounds coastal Odisha

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The cyclone Yaas has put the Kolkata port authorities on tenterhooks for some time as the rising water of the Hooghly river surpassed the height of the external lock gate of its Haldia Dock System, leading the draught level to go up to around eight metres on Wednesday, an official said.

    However, water entered into the lock barrel the area between external and internal lock gates for not more than 30 minutes and no damage was done to ships or assets of the Haldia Dock system in Purba Medinipur district, port chairman Vinit Kumar said.

    Lock gates help Haldia dock to maintain the required draught level at berths.

    Being a riverine port, the level of draught (the depth of water required to float a ship) is very crucial for ships coming in and going out of the facility.

    Kumar, who was in Kolkata, and Union Shipping Minister Mansukh Mandaviya from Delhi were monitoring the cyclone situation to ensure that prompt action is taken in case of any eventuality, officials said.

    “The situation is well under control. All ships and equipment assets are secured. There is no casualty. Water seeped into the barrel and the tide led the draught to rise to eight meters while the height of the lock gate is seven meters,” Kumar told PTI.

    ALSO READ | Sea water inundates residential areas in coastal Bengal as cyclone ‘Yaas’ unleashes fury

    However, an official of the Haldia Dock said that they were on tenterhooks for some time but the problem was temporary.

    “There was no major problem. Pumps are pressed into service to drain out the extra water,” he said.

    Kumar said that he is not expecting any major damage in the port due to the cyclone.

    “A clear picture would emerge after more reports come. Shipping operations will begin once the effects of the cyclone are dissipated,” said the chairman of the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, earlier known as Kolkata Port Trust.

    Cyclone Yaas pounded the coastal areas of north Odisha and West Bengal as it made the landfall at around 9 am on Wednesday with a wind speed of 130-140 kmph.

    Meanwhile, coastal districts of Odisha received very to extremely heavy rainfall as cyclone ‘Yaas’ battered the region, the meteorological department said on Wednesday.

    Chandbali in Bhadrak district recorded rainfall of 288.3 mm over the past 24 hours, followed by Rajkanika in Kendrapara (251 mm), the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre said.

    Nawana in Mayurbhanj district received 210.4 mm rainfall, Binjharpur in Jajpur (206 mm), Paradip in Jagatsinghpur (200.3 mm) and Astaranga in Puri (180 mm), it said.

    The districts of Dhenkanal, Angul, Deogarh and Sundargarh received moderate rain, while the average precipitation in Keonjhar district was 44.7 mm, the department said.

    ALSO READ | Cyclone Yaas: NDRF team that evacuated 842 in Gujarat rescues 10 fishermen in Odisha

    Odisha’s Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Jena said of the state’s 314 blocks, 36 received rainfall between 110 mm and 304 mm, while 37 other blocks recorded 50-100 mm rainfall.

    The IMD has issued a red warning for nine districts that are expected to receive downpour in the next 24 hours.

    Cyclone ‘Yaas’ wreaked havoc in the beach towns in north Odisha and neighbouring West Bengal, as it hit the coast around 9 am with wind speeds of 130-140 kmph, inundating low- lying areas amid a storm surge, officials said.

  • Coup won’t affect India-Myanmar Kaladan transport project, work on verge of completion: Jaishankar

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project was getting the final push.

    He cited various challenges causing delays in the completion of the project.

    “Kaladan is in a very difficult part of Myanmar. There were a lot of logistical challenges even to get to the place. Work has progressed in some parts. For example, the Sittwe port has been operational for some time. The Paletwa Inland Water Terminal has also progressed. But the real challenge we had was to bring it up the waterway. And there we found the navigability of dirt was much difficult than the surveys had indicated,” Jaishankar told journalists in Guwahati.

    “So, we had to increase the road element of the project which was in Mizoram. The road building has been the cause of delay because there are some law and order challenges in that region. But we are now confident that we will be able to push it through. Some projects move faster, some move slower. You learn something and get better at it. I believe we are in the last sort of that push,” he said.

    The US $484 million projects will connect the Kolkata seaport with the Sittwe seaport in the Rakhine State of Myanmar by sea. In Myanmar, it will link the Sittwe seaport with Paletwa in the Chin State via the Kaladan riverboat route, and then from Paletwa by road to Mizoram. The project was originally scheduled to be completed by 2014.

    Asked if the coup in Myanmar will have any impact on India given that the neighbouring country plays an important role in India’s Act East Policy, Jaishankar said, “These are early days. We see development projects as addressing the needs of people. I would very much hope that the development projects are not affected.”

    Accompanied by the Japanese Ambassador to India Satoshi Suzuki, Jaishankar visited the site of the Japan International Cooperation Agency-funded Guwahati water supply project and reviewed the progress of work.

    Talking about the India-Japan partnership, he said, “Our presence today not only reflects the strong cooperation that we have but it also underlines how this partnership can really make a difference.”