Is ‘Sagarmala’ project too ambitious for Kochi port?

Diversification of activities not the need of the hour: port union

: The ambitious Sagarmala project for the comprehensive development and diversification of activities at major ports in the country has received a guarded welcome by port workers’ unions in Kochi.

The Sagarmala project, which remained on the drawing board for a long time, has been unveiled at a time when the Kochi port is facing serious financial crisis. Even the timely disbursal of salaries and pension seems uncertain.

New ports and diversification of activities of major ports are not the urgent need of the hour.

What is needed is full capacity utilisation of the major ports in the country, said C.D. Nandakumar, general secretary of Cochin Port Employees’ Organisation, CITU.

He said that the country urgently needs a port development policy in keeping with the cargo volume and profile. Facilities like the Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Terminal here are underutilised. Only less than 35 per cent of the facility’s capacity is used now, he said and pointed out that other ports in the country were also in the same condition.

P.A. Mohammed Haneef, working president of Cochin Port Staff Association said that he would not be able to offer a perspective on the Sagarmala project immediately as the details were just coming in.

However, he said that many of the decisions in the project announcement appeared to be hasty.