THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government will reintroduce the Maritime Board Bill in the Assembly. The earlier Bill, passed in 2014, had not received the President’s assent. The earlier Bill had incorporated the formation of Kerala Maritime Society and Kerala State Maritime Development Corporation. “However, the Union Home Minister had raised some doubts regarding the Board. We are still interacting with the Centre," ports minister Kadannappally Ramachandran said in the Assembly on Monday.
Nevertheless, he did not clarify whether the Bill will be subject to any changes when it would be re-introduced. The major objectives of the Board include coordination of the activities of all the ports in the state and to gradually shift cargo movement from road to the sea. The other major objectives of a maritime board are: supervision of the construction of small harbours, the implementation of laws of the Union Shipping Ministry and Shipping Transport Department, training, and the carrying out of other duties vested in the State Government by Indian Harbour Rules.
Maritime boards are necessary to ensure proper utilisation of the funds allotted for minor ports. The minor ports, unlike the major ports, come under the direct control of state governments. Three of the ten coastal states in the country - Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu - have their own maritime boards. Kerala, which has a coastline of more than 580 km, has been contemplating constitution of Maritime Board for at least ten years.
