Work on the third stage of the Malpe Fisheries Harbour, which is expected to provide berthing or parking facility to about 500 boats, is expected to be delayed again.
This time the reason is the construction of a slipway, which is yet to be started.
Nearly 1,400 mechanised boats get berthed at the first and second stage of the fisheries harbour here and since boats from the neighbouring districts also come here, the space is inadequate.
The third stage is expected to ease this congestion and it is coming up on 10 acres in Baputhota in Malpe at an estimated Rs. 42 crore.
The Union government is bearing 75 per cent of the cost and the rest by the State government.
The work was entrusted to Yojaka (India) Pvt. Ltd. on July 5, 2011 and as per the terms of the contract, the work should be completed by July 26, 2014. Due to a delay in getting the approval for the design for the structural drawings and the designs of diaphragm wall and other buildings from the government, the construction started on January 3, 2013.
Except for the slipway, the construction of diaphragm wall and buildings to house a restaurant, a rest-shed for fishermen, boat repair shop and public toilets have been completed or are nearing completion.
The delay in providing a design for the slipway has proved to be a major stumbling block in completing the work on the Third Stage.
“We will require at least three to four months for constructing the slipway after the design is made available to us,” said Sanath Kumar, General Manager of Yojaka.
The work of drawing up the design for the slipway had been given to a firm because local fishermen’s unions had sought manual-cum-mechanised facility to pull boats to the boat-repair yard. The earlier design had provided only for manual pulling of boats.
T.S. Rathod, Executive Engineer, Executive Engineer, PWD (Ports and Fisheries Division), said that the new design, which had been drawn up, had been cleared by all stakeholders including the fishermen.
“The cost of construction of the slipway has been estimated at Rs. 1.97 crore. The new design will be sent to the Chief Engineer of PWD for his approval. We expect to get the approval in 15-20 days and the works can start soon afterwards,” he said.
