In October, the Union Shipping Ministry’s technical advisory committee (TAC) threw a lifeline to the beleaguered Haldia port, of the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT), by recommending the opening of the a new route to bypass the heavily silted navigation channel that currently serves the facility.
However, over two months after the TAC gave its green signal, the KoPT is yet to finish the tendering process for impediment removal in the proposed route known as the Eden Channel.
On Friday, KoPT deputy chairman A Majumdar said that the initial tender had been discharged by the KoPT board earlier this week, in line with the recommendations made by the tendering committee, and that a new tender would be subsequently floated. “This will mean that the opening (of the Eden Channel) will be pushed backed,” he said.
According to sources, this delay in placing the work order for clearing debris in the Eden Channel could mean that this alternative route is unlikely to be ready for functioning before the second half of next year.
“Of the three companies that bid for clearing impediments, one was disqualified and the remaining two quoted prices 35 per cent and 37 per cent above the KoPT estimate for the work. The tendering committee will now submit a report to the chairman and the KoPT board will have to take a decision,” a source said.
Even if the KoPT board members agree to hike the estimate and the work-order, subsequent to the re-tendering, is issued next month, it will take the contractor at least a month to mobilise equipment. Considering there is a fair-weather window extending up to March, during which the impediment removal can be undertaken, it is improbable that the work will be completed in just two months, a senior official said.
“We had approximated that four months would be required for the impediment removal work to be completed, including one month for mobilisation. If the order is given and work begins early next year, I don't expect the contractor to operationalise the channel by March-April. After that, work can only recommence in October next year,” the official said.
Consequently, the Haldia port will have to continue functioning with a main navigational path, the Auckland channel, where the depth has fallen to as low as 3.7 meters. The reduced depth at Auckland has translated into lower parcel loads coming into the port as well as a large queue of ships waiting to enter Haldia. This, in turn, has adversely affected users of the facility and, moreover, prompted shipping lines to levy a ‘congestion surcharge’ for containers coming into the port.
Last month, Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy said that the initial navigational testing of the Eden channel would begin by April 2010 and the route would be fully operational by October next year.
Haldia port is West Bengal's only facility capable of handling large vessels and serves a large hinterland consisting of neighboring states, the North-East as well as land-locked countries such as Nepal and Bhutan.
