In the face of falling draft in the Haldia channel and inadequate supply of dredgers from the Dredging Corporation of India(DCI), Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) is now looking at chartering two dredgers itself through the shipping ministry chartering wing, Trasnchart.
"We are looking at chartering two dredgers through Trasnchart directly that may be operated by DCI staff.", said A K Chanda, chairman, KPT. While DCI employed Dutch dredgers, these could be Chinese dredgers.
He did not give out the financial details.
DCI was contracted to maintain 5 metre (m) draft at Auckland and Jellingham points so that the draft of the Haldia channel could be 9m.
Five dredgers were to work on the channel in addition to one dredger for 120 days.
However, only three dredgers worked with one working at 50 per cent capacity.
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After pursuing its case with the shipping ministry, KPT recently received an additional dredger from DCI.
Another two were expected in ten days and in November respectively, the chairman informed.
"The draft was lower by 0.3m this month compared to the same month last year", Chanda said.
Draft in the Haldia channel was at 7.5m in July this year, as compared to the average river draft of 8.5m in July for the last four years, the Association of Shipping Interests in Calcutta (ASIC) alleged.
To tackle the issue of a falling draft, KPT decided to reduce the navigable channel to four tracks in place of five, narrowing the channel by around 115m.
The channel is around 460 m wide in Haldia and 300 m in Kolkata.
"In Kolkata, the navigable channel is now lesser by around 75 m.", Chanda said.
This would mean that even with lesser number of dredgers working, more effective dredging could be achieved.
Chanda was talking at the sidelines of a Kolkata Port Trust Centenary Hospital event that hosted the MRCS Part III examinations of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCSE) this month.
RCSE holds over 20 examinations each year in UK and overseas. Kolkata was one among its three international centers, with the two other being Colombo in Sri Lanka and Cairo in Egypt.
Around 150 candidates from all over world appeared in the oral and clinical rounds here at the KoPT Centenary hospital.
They were shortlisted after a theoretical round conducted by the British Councils worldwide.
Fifteen candidates cleared the exam to become members of the RCSE.