Chennai:
A marine highway between Chennai and Ennore port could
soon become a reality after a pre-feasibility report prepared by Confederation
of Indian Industry found it technically feasible.
Addressing a CII event after releasing ‘Logistics
Collaboration between Ennore and Chennai Ports: Pre-Feasibility Report, Union
Shipping Minister G K Vasan said a committee headed by joint secretary will
look into the report before starting to construct barge terminals at Chennai
and Ennore ports thereby creating marine highway to ferry containers between
the two ports.
The CII report moots the idea of developing ennore Port,
located 24km north of Chennai Port, as a logistics and warehousing centre to
decongest Chennai Port, which faces the challenge of increasing road
congestion.
The report states that due to congestion delays,
container terminals at Chennai are currently handling 1,200 trucks per day as
against the road holding capacity of 1,200 trucks. The remaining 500 trucks are
parked on city roads.
“Atleast 2,000 container trucks wait for a minimum of 24
hours on a daily basis on Chennai Port access roads from SN Chetty street up to
Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) Madhavaram,” the report states.
Interestingly, high costs associated with port delays
have pushed a number of city-based manufacturers to move trade to Tuticorin,
Karaikal and Krishnapatnam ports.
CII’s pre-feasiblity report explores the possibility of
twinning the ports of Chennai and Ennore, highlights the need for an additional
mode of transport, explains the concept of a marine highway and how it will
address congestion problems.
The report also describes technical parameters and
identifies prospective centres for setting up barge terminals at the two ports
besides evaluating the financial feasibility of the proposed marine highway and
presenting a cost-benefit analysis of various stake holders.
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