Port Trust launches beach nourishment

Visakhapatnam: The VPT commenced a month-long work on beach nourishment by engaging Dredging Corporation of India Limited to fill eroded the RK Beach.  While inspecting the dredging works, Chairman of said that the project was taken up at a cost of Rs 18.37 crore for which a DCI dredger laid the pipeline in the sea to collect and dump an estimated VPT MT Krishna Babu three lakh cubic metres of sand in vulnerable areas.

On the recommendation of the Netherlands-based independent institute specialising in research in water and sub-surface, ‘Deltares’, the VPT has been undertaking the beach nourishment by collecting and dumping sand by laying a pipeline for effective utilisation of sand since 2017. Earlier, it used to adopt the rainbow method, now adopting the directing pumping method, the Chairman added.

As per National Institute of Oceanography and Technology (NIOT) report on 974 km coastline of Andhra Pradesh, beach erosion occurs at 271 km coastline due to severe cyclones and the sea conditions. Severe beach erosion led to the sea’s forward march and broke the side walls at the INS Kursura Submarine Museum and road caved in near fishing harbour and other places in the city.

Deltares will submit a Detailed Project Report (DPR) to mitigate the beach erosion in the city by January 2019 and at least Rs 150 crore is required to tackle the beach erosion, MT Krishna Babu said.

Talking about the VPT’s performance, the Chairman said that despite serious challenges, the port handled nearly 61 million tonnes of cargo during the current financial year (2017-18) till the end of January, 1.6 million tonnes more than during the corresponding period last year.

The VPT is now targeting to chase 64 million tonnes by the end of present fiscal. Though Vizag port has registered a growth of over three per cent in terms of cargo handling, Kandla Port Trust and Paradip Port Trust emerged first and second ranks while VPT managed to secure fourth position.