PM to meet all party delegation from Kerala on Vizhinjam port

New Delhi, Aug 30: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet here tomorrow an all-party delegation from Kerala which is on a mission to seek his urgent intervention to remove the hurdles on the way of early implementation of the proposed Rs 43.60 million Vizhinjam Deep Sea Transhipment Terminal Project.

The 25-member delegation headed by Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan will present a memorandum to Dr Singh on the Vizhinjam port issue during the meeting at 1630 hrs at the Prime Minister's Office in the South Block.

The delegation will also express to the Prime Minister its serious concern over the safety of inter-state Mullaperiyar dam.

The state had apprehensions about the safety of the 110-year-old dam located on the border with Tamil Nadu, especially in the wake of a mild termor reported from the dam site area.

Political parties in Kerala had a collective view on the Mullaperiyar issue. They were against raising the reservoir's storage limit beyond 136 ft.

Besides Ministers P J Joseph, M Vijayakumar and N K Premachandran, the delegation includes Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee Chief Ramesh Chennithala and Union Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed.

The delegation, which also has representatives of all legislature groups having representation in the state assembly, is the biggest ever contigent from the state to meet the Prime Minister, that too to highlight one single issue. Since the delay in giving central clearance for the Vizhinjam container terminal project is top on the memorandum, the MLA representing Vizhinjam area in the state assembly, Mr George Mercier, also forms part of the delegation.

The decision to send the delegation was taken at a an all-party meeting held at Thiruvananthapuram on August 16.

The previous Congress-led Oommen Chandy government had decided on a consortium of three companies (two Chinese and a Mumbai-based firm) through a global bid to build the port. However, the centre had recently refused security clearance for the project on the ground that two Chinese companies are forming part of the consortium.

In fact, Prime Minister Singh had given a date for laying of the foundation stone for the project in March. But by then the elections were announced and it was postponed again. .

There were reports that central ministers from Tamil Nadu were opposing this project because they were keen on a similar port at Colachel, 40 km from Vizhinjam, in Tamil Nadu.

The biggest advantage that Vizhinjam has over all other ports in the country is that there is no need for any dredging at all. The natural depth at Vizhinjam is 24 metres, which is by far the best in comparison to all other ports in the world. The proposed port also lies very close to the international waters.

UNI