BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday urged the Union Government to have a dredging of Mahanadi river-mouth at Paradip port. In a letter to Union shipping minister Nitin Gadkari, Mr Patnaik urged him to direct Paradip Port authorities for a dredging of Mahanadi river-mouth and the navigational channel for the Paradip fishing harbour. Describing the Paradip fishing harbour a major fish-landing centre on the east coast, the CM said the port authorities had carried out the dredging of the navigational channel during 1997-98.
However, the maintenance dredging had not been carried out since then. “Paradip Fishing Harbour is a major fish-landing centre on the east coast, where 640 mechanised fishing vessels and 100 FRP boats operate. About 30,000 people are engaged directly and indirectly there. The harbour was developed under the centrally sponsored sche-me of the Union ministry of agriculture, which was completed during 1996.
Before the year 2011, the management and maintenance of fishing harbour were being done by the Paradip Port Trust. The port authorities had taken up dredging of the navigational channel during 1997-98 but since then no maintenance dredging has been carried out,” Mr Patnaik wrote. Expressing his concern over the increasing trend of accidents, he appealed to Mr Gadkari to ensure the safety of the fishing harbour at the port in Odisha. “The depth available at the river-mouth is less than 1 metre though the fishing vessels require a minimum depth of 4 metres for smooth and safe navigation. The fishermen have been pleading for dredging of the river-mouth for reduction of accidents and casualties, which are showing an increasing trend,” the letter said.
The Bengaluru-based Central Institute of Coastal Engineering for Fishery in its report said that the siltation at Mahanadi river-mouth has been aggravated due to beach nourishment work taken up by the Paradip Port Trust (PPT) for protection of sea wall, and no remedial measure has been taken to arrest the movement of sand towards the river-mouth and navigational channel, Mr Patnaik said.
