Work on third stage of Malpe fisheries harbour to be completed soon

Pramod Madhwaraj, MLA, said on Monday that the construction of the third stage jetty of the Malpe Fisheries Harbour would be completed soon.

Speaking to presspersons after inspecting the slipway work at the harbour here, Mr. Madhwaraj said that most of the third stage work had been completed except the slipway. The slipway was being constructed at a cost of Rs. 2.39 crore.

Since a mechanical slipway was being constructed instead of a manual one, its bearing capacity would be 60 tonnes. After the completion of the slipway work, the fishing boats could be hauled up to the repair yard for painting, maintenance or repairs.

The yard would have berthing facility for 13 boats. The slipway work was expected to be completed by April 30.

The total cost of construction of the third stage work was Rs. 49.90 crore and it would provide berthing facility for 500 boats.

It will be inaugurated soon after the completion of the slipway. A concrete approach road would be laid to the third stage jetty at a cost of Rs. 25 lakh.

Since the number of boats at the Malpe fisheries harbour was increasing, he had submitted a proposal to the State government for the construction of the fourth stage jetty at Padukere at a cost of Rs. 19 crore.

The proposed fourth stage jetty would be 500 metres long and would provide berthing for about 300 boats.

Dredging

Dredging work had been taken up in the basin of the first and second stages of Malpe harbour. Nearly 90,000 cubic metres of silt had accumulated in the basin. The depth of the basin should be minus three metres.

But now it was minus 1.5 metre, which meant that there was 1.5 metre of silt.

This silt would be transported and thrown into the Arabian Sea 10 km away from land. Silt removal was also essential from the safety viewpoint of the fishermen. The dredging work was expected to be completed after the monsoon.

The ongoing construction of the Rs. 14-crore Malpe-Padukere bridge was expected to be completed by the end of June. Already, seven out of the nine spans of the bridge had been completed.

The length of the bridge was 430 metres and its width 6.25 metres. The height of the bridge had been increased to allow for smooth movement of boats, Mr. Madhwaraj said.

Meenakshi Bannanje, president of Udupi City Municipal Council, was present.