Prime minister Narendra Modi to set stone for dredging harbour in East Godavari

Rajahmundry: Work on development of a dredging harbour on the near the coast of the Bay of Bengal at Antarvedi village in East Godavari is gaining momentum with prime minister Narendra Modi scheduled to lay the foundation stone for it in the second week of July.

With the Centre also having announced the setting up of a dredging manufacturing unit at the same place, the state government has identified nearly 175 acres of government land on the coast.

Officials from the Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) visited the site and found the site satisfactory. The cost of the project is estimated to be about Rs 2,000 crore.

Though the centre has announced the project, the DCI is yet to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the state government for the setting up of the project. Once it is done, the state government will issue directions to hand over the identified land to the DCI to start the work.

Local Revenue authorities say that except for inspection of the proposed site, for the setting up of the harbour, a manufacturing unit of the dredges and a training centre, there is not much progress that has taken place nor has anything been put on record.

The land where the harbour is proposed to be built has a casuarina plantation along the coastline and local villagers are enjoying its yield. Amalapuram Revenue Divisional Officer G. Ganesh Kumar said, “As soon as we get the orders from the government, we will hand over the land for developing the harbour.”

Razole legislator Gollapalli Surya Rao said, “Though some people have tried to shift the proposed harbour to somewhere between Vizianagaram and Srikakulam, the state government is firm to develop it at Antarvedi alone as it will help develop infrastructure in the area, the setting up of allied units and create job potential for the local youth.”