Pondy Govt inks MoU with KSMDC for dredging port estuary

Puducherry, Nov 7 (UNI) The Puducherry administration today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kerala State Maritime Development Corporation (KSMDC) for taking up dredging work at the estuary of the Puducherry port.

The MoU was signed by KSMDC Managing Director K K Rajendran and Mr M Rajendran, Executive Engineer, Puducherry Port department, in the presence of Ports Minister E Valsaraj in his chambers.

Later, Mr Valsaraj told newspersons here that the dredger had a hopper capacity of about 200 cubic metres and it would make a minimum of five load trips in a day to dump the dredged sand in deep sea. The total cost of the project would be Rs 2.87 crore and the work would commence in another ten days as the first instalment would be deposited in a couple of days. The work was expected to be completed in four months, he added.

He said the succession dredger 'Sindhuja' was chosen for dredging in consultation with the Dredging Corporation of India. This was the only type of dredger available in the country to operate at open sea wave conditions at shallow draft. The dredger would not require any pipeline system for discharging the dredged slurry, he added.

UNI