Gangavaram port construction work may resume today

The Gangavaram port construction work is likely to resume tomorrow. "We are waiting for the government's nod to restart the construction work. We are hopeful of resuming the work from Monday," Bh A Rama Raju, assistant vice-president, Gangavaram Port Limited, told Business Standard. The state government holds 11 per cent equity in the project.

The port management awarded the construction contracts to L&T and Dredge International of Belgium, which had started the work two months ago. But, the local fishermen and opposition parties launched an agitation demanding a better rehabilitation package.

"Owing to the continuous agitation by local leaders, we have so far lost 34 working days and the work has been totally stopped for the last 10 days. So, we are waiting for the government's green signal to start the work at the earliest," Raju said. According to him, the loss of one day's work would cost the port management not less than Rs 1.5 crore.

To assuage the feelings of the agitating fishermen, the government has suggested several alternative packages and it is even ready with cheques for Rs 11 crore to pay compensation to them.

At the same time, the government is also taking stringent steps to curb the agitation and as part of the drive on Friday arrested 380 agitators including several prominent politicians and leaders of fishermen.