Chennai to have two marinas in next five years

Chennai:

Chennai is expected to have two marinas for mooring luxury yachts and sailing boats in the vicinity around Chennai by the end of five years, according to a Chennai Port official.

Speaking to Express on the sidelines of the Annual Press Meet organized by the Chennai Port, chief engineer R Srinivasa Kannan said that the small scale marina, which is modeled from the Kochi experience, will be coming up at one of the vacant berth while the large scale marina will be coming up at the mouth of Cooum.

“We have obtained the clearance from the state coastal zone management authority (SCZMA) and have submitted the proposal for the clearance of environment ministry and hope to get it with in the next three months for the large marina,” Kannan said.

“After this we would be submitting tenders for the construction of the Groyne Field for the large marina. We are planning to have six shore connected groins at varying space and length for protecting and stabiling the coastline in 1.6 km stretch,” he said.

He said a detailed project report has been prepared and environmental study has been completed. He said IIT Madras has conducted the nodal study of the groin field.

He said the smaller marina, which is based on the Kochi model, is expected to be ready within two years.