Puducherry’s minor port upgradation plan gets EAC nod

‘Proposal would generate funds for Government’

A proposal of the Puducherry government to upgrade the minor port at Uppalam under the Sagarmala scheme has been recommended for environmental and CRZ clearance by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

The Port Department of the Puducherry Government had applied for Environmental and CRZ clearance to undertake capital dredging and construction of a barrier between the drainage channel and navigation channel as part of the first phase of work.

Until 2006, the minor port was handling various cargo such as fertilisers, iron scrap, carbon black feed oil, wheat, molasses, cement sugar and other cargo.

Financial constraints

After 2006 due to financial constraints, the port and its navigation channel could not be maintained properly, the department said in its application.

The department also wanted to dispose of dredged sediments “having sand fractions on the northern side of the shoreline for beach stabilisation, clay type sediments offshore in open sea and construction of a pile supported bridge cum walkway across the drainage channel to prevent solid waste disposal into the port waters.”

It also said that it does not propose to handle coal or any other dirty cargo.

Dredging the channel will also help fishermen as it will allow them to get sufficient draft to bring their boats at all times into the fishing harbour that shares a common entrance with the commercial minor port.

“This proposal would generate funds for the Government of Puducherry in terms of lease rent and lead to productive use of space,” it said.

Recommending the Environmental and CRZ clearances, the EAC also stipulated a number of conditions including compliance and continuous monitoring of marine ecology and marine biodiversity.