Kerala govt frames policy to develop ports

KANNUR: With the objective of turning Kerala into a major harbour state, a comprehensive policy has been been evolved to develop six of the 17 ports in the state, works for which would be completed in a time bound manner, Harbour Development Minister M Vijayakumar said on Sunday.

The government has evolved a harbour policy to develop six select port sites of Azhikal, Beypore, Ponnani, Alappuzha, Kollam and Vizhinjham at a cost of over Rs 2,000 crore, he said.

A global tender for appointing a consultant has been floated and the works would be finished in time bound manner, he said, inaugurating the second phase development works of Azhikal Port here.

As part of coordinating various related development works for Azhikal Port, a special officer has been appointed to monitor the related works like breakwater construction, dredging, procurement of cranes, road-rail connectivity.

The works, to be undertaken under public-private participation, will have a monitoring committee chaired by the District Collector with the local MLA, MP among others, as its members will have monthly review meeting to report progress of the works to the government, he said.

With an estimated Rs 20 crore allied works of the harbour are under progress, the major works of the port would commence by 2008, he said.

Having completed the survey for road connectivity, the study for linking the port with rail would start within a month, Vijayakumar said.