The exercise of preparation of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report for expansion of the Machilipatnam harbour has commenced under the aegis of Bangalore-based Central Institute of Coastal Engineering for Fishery (CICEF). The State government will submit the report to the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate change to obtain environmental clearance for the expansion of the harbour.
Dredging
WAPCOs Limited under the Ministry of Water Resource has already prepared a Detailed Project Report estimating the cost of the harbour expansion at ₹252 crore. “The Machilipatnam harbour expansion project includes dredging of sand and laying of one kilometre stretch of training walls on both sides from the sea entrance point, beginning from the existing harbour point at Gilakaladindi area,” Fisheries Department Assistant Director (Machilipatnam) A.V. Raghava Reddy told The Hindu . The harbour is geographically located in the Gilakaladindi area, which is barely three km away from the port town, and it is nestled between the mangrove cover and backwaters.
“Of the total estimated cost of the project, ₹152 crore will be spent only for dredging the sand deposited at the sea entrance point at the harbour. The Central and State governments will together share the project cost,” added Mr. Raghava Reddy.
A majority of the 120 boats registered at the harbour have started operating from the nearest harbours at Kakinada and Nizampatnam as the sea entrance point has been blocked with sand deposition. The boat operators complain that the depth of water at the entrance point does not allow mechanised boats to navigate into the sea due to the littoral drift effect. In recent years, the boat operators have appointed a special team of boatmen for information about the water level to reach the harbour from the sea.
