Naveen writes Gadkari to deepen Mahanadi river mouth

BHUBANESWAR: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday requested the Centre to direct the Paradip Port Trust (PPT) to take up the dredging of the Mahanadi river mouth and navigational channel near the port town for smooth navigation of fishing vessels.
In a letter to Union shipping mister Nitin Gadkari, the chief minister said regularly about 640 mechanised fishing vessels and 100 FRP (fibre-reinforced plastic) boats operate at the Paradip fishing harbour, a major fish landing centre on the east coast of the country.“About 30,000 people are engaged directly and indirectly there,” Naveen said.
The chief minister also said the depth available at the river mouth is less than one meter though the fishing vessels require a minimum depth of four meters for smooth navigation. “The fishermen have been demanding for dredging of the rover mouth for reduction of accidents and casualities, which are showing an increasing trend,” he said.
Naveen said the Central Institute of Coastal Engineering for Fishery, Bengaluru has reported that the siltation at the Mahanadi river mouth has been aggravated due to the beach nourishment work taken up by the PPT for protection of sea wall, a few years back. “No remedial measures have been taken to arrest the movement of sand towards the river mouth and navigation channel,” he added.
The fishing harbour was developed under the centrally sponsored scheme of the ministry of agriculture in 1996. The port authorities had last taken up dredging of the navigational channel during 1997-98 as the management and fishing harbour was being done by the PPT till 2011, official sources said.
Currently, the fishing harbour is being managed by a management society having suitable representations from fishermen and other stake holders, Naveen added.