Dust will settle down, VPT will be green port: Chairman

Visakhapatnam: Come September, the Visakhapatnam Port will become a green port and the people will not see a particle of coal in their homes. There was a hue and cry from the Old Town and Seethammadhara residents and local MLA P Vishnu Kumar Raju has submitted a memorandum to the port trust chairman to cut down the pollution as it would harm the children and elderly people.

“We have already spent Rs 1,500 crore for mechanisation of coal handling and the remaining works worth Rs 200 crore would be completed by September this year”, Port Chairman MT Krishna Babu told this correspondent.

Vedanta Group has spent Rs 650 crore, Gammon India Rs 200 crore, Adani Rs 600 crore and SEW 300 crore. The Chairman has assured that the pollution would be cut down drastically after the mechanisation project is completed. High velocity winds reached with a speed of 60 kmph from April 20 to April 23 and they carried the coal dust to different parts of the city, he informed.

He said the coal is being sprinkled with water and the heaps are covered by tarpaulins. Apart from mechanisation, 40,000 saplings of two-and-half-year-old have been planted around the port and another 40,000 would planted this year.

Temporary berth for cruise
The plans for a permanent jetty for cruise ships at Bhimili estimated at a cost of Rs 300 crore has been put on hold, the VPT Chairman has suggested that a temporary berth be created in the inner harbour where clean cargo is being handled.

The Chairman said there may not be many visits by the cruise ships from abroad in the initial stages and an investment of Rs 300 crore may not be a wise decision before improving the tourism sector. The Cochin Port has received 53 cruise ships last year, Mumbai Port 30 ships and Mangalore Port 22 ships.