Machilipatnam port works likely to begin in Dec

Machilipatnam(Krishna District): Hopes are slowly rising among the public over the construction of the Machilipatnam port after noticing the hustle and bustle of the public representatives and the officers.

Two days ago, Machilipatnam MP Bala Showry informed that the financial institutions working under the Central government had sanctioned a loan of Rs 3,940 crore. The authorities also started work for acquiring land, which would be needed for construction road-cum-rail connectivity for Machilipatnam Port.

R&B department Principal Secretary Praveen Prakash and other officials visited Machilipatnam and Pedana for the land on Tuesday.

The Machilipatnam port will be constructed in 3863.8 acres in two phases as per the master plan. The government and officials concerned decided to take up port construction works in 1926.39 acres in first phase and in 1,910 acres in the second phase due to the problem in land acquisition.

However, the government got all the required land needed for the first phase, except 136 acres. The government had over 1,727 acres (including government land), which was acquired by purchasing, land pooling and land acquisition schemes. Now the port just needs 136 acres of private land to build a road and railway network to the port. If it is acquired, the authorities are likely to start the construction. For this, the maritime board has to release around Rs 100 crore.

On the other hand, the government has been clearing all the required permissions for port construction for the past two years. The port got Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearances recently and Pollution Control Board also gave its nod. The port is yet to receive environmental permissions from the Central government.

In the wake of this, MP V Bala Showry met Union Cabinet Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav at Delhi recently and requested him to give environmental permissions for the construction of the Machilipatnam Port.

Meanwhile, the authorities are estimating that more than Rs 5,160 crores is needed to complete two phases of port construction. In view of this, MP Bala Shoury asked several finance institutions to sanction loan for the port construction, and the finance institutions sanctioned about Rs 3,940 crore for the port. The MP said that after getting environmental permissions, port construction works will commence. The works are likely to commence on December 21, on the occasion of the birthday of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, he added.

Machilipatnam Urban Development Authority VC Narayana Reddy said that Machilipatnam Port Development Corporation Limited will undertake port

construction.

Speaking to 'The Hans India', he stated that above 196 acres is needed for road-cum-rail network and 60 acres has already been purchased. Land will be acquired from Pothepilli, Mekavanipalem, Kara Agraharam and Arisepalli villages. The connecting road may start at Pothepalli and will pass between Port Pylon and Ice factory at Manginapudi Beach road. The road length is likely to be above 7 kilometres, he addedx