Published Sep 11, 2023 | 6:43 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 11, 2023 | 6:43 PM
Vizhinjam port. (Wikimedia)
On 4 October, the first ship carrying cranes from China will be docking at Vizhinjam Port.
The Kerala Minister for Ports, Ahamed Devarkovil, said that three more ships will be coming to Vizhinjam, one in October and two in November, after the arrival of the first ship.
The minister spoke with the reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, 11 September.
He said the port, being constructed at an estimated cost of ₹7,700 crore, is expected to be commissioned by May next year.
“We hope to commission the port by May next year,” Devarkovil said, adding that Adani Ports Private Ltd has decided to complete all the works by December this year.
He said 75 percent of the breakwater construction is also complete.
He further said, “This is the one and only port in the country that provides more than 20 metres of depth without dredging and is closer to the International Maritime Channel.”
Speaking to PTI, Rajesh Jha, MD and CEO of Adani Ports, said the port is going to be handling all the international cargo transhipment to India.
“This is going to be one of the biggest ports in the world, and it is going to give a great financial benefit to Kerala as it is going to handle all the transhipment requirements,” Jha said.
Claimed to be the country’s first container transhipment port built to international standards, the Vizhinjam project aims to plug into the lucrative shipping trade between juggernaut manufacturers in the East and wealthy consumer markets in the West.
In 2022, the construction works were stalled following the intense agitation by the fish workers of the region, primarily members of the Latin Catholic community.
The protestors said that the under-construction project was causing large-scale sea erosion in the region, depriving them of their livelihood. Hundreds of houses and community spaces of the fish workers have been washed away in surging sea waters since the construction works began four years ago.
Vizhinjam had also witnessed violent protests as fishermen in the area opposed the project, alleging that the port could adversely affect their livelihood.
Following the 138-day protest in 2022, the Latin Catholic Church called off its agitation against the project following a late-night closed-door discussion with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on 6 December, 2022.
Most of the affected fishing workers belong to the Latin Catholic community and were aggrieved by the Church’s decision to abruptly end the protest without gaining any significant assurances from the government or the Adani Group.
Most of the demands raised by the agitators — including setting up an independent scientific committee with at least two members nominated by the affected fisherfolk, and suspending the construction work till the committee comes out with its conclusions — had been summarily rejected.
The government also rejected the demand that all criminal cases registered against the agitators be dropped, and is not in favour of increasing the compensation package for the fisherfolk who lost their houses and livelihood to the surging sea waters.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Union Minister for Ports Sarbananda Sonowal will participate in a function to be organised at the Adani-run Vizhinjam Port to receive the ship, Minister Devarkovil told reporters.
On 20 September, CM Vijayan will unveil the logo and name of the Vizhinjam Port at a function in Thiruvananthapuram.
The Vizhinjam port is being constructed under the public-private partnership model.
The Adani Group is the private partner in the development of Vizhinjam port, which is going to be one of the largest ports in the world once commissioned.
The project, which was scheduled to be commissioned in 2019, got delayed due to several issues related to land acquisition.
(With PTI inputs)
