‘Location, big advantage to Enayam port’

Delivering his address at the Regional Media Workshop on Southern District Infrastructure Development-An Interaction, organised by the Press Information Bureau, in Madurai on Friday, Bose claimed that the strategical location of Enayam port had the potential to attract cargo and earn a revenue of approximately Rs 1,500 crore per annum. The techno- feasibility study carried out by a Spanish firm has showed that Enayam site was best suited for a major port and has natural draft of more than 16 meters equalling Colombo port. 

Hence large sized ships could also enter the port, he opined. During the interaction session, when asked about the ongoing protests by locals and whether public hearing was conducted, he said that a meeting was conducted at Nagercoil Collectorate and a detailed public hearing meeting involving the fishermen would be held after the detailed project report(DPR) was released. 

To a question on the necessity for a port at Enayam, when another port, close to it at Vizhinjam, was being developed, Bose replied that there was a concept called cluster ports in Europe and the exporters and importers were given the choice of picking the ports they wish to use. This would also benefit the cargo liners as they would be offered competitive rates by different ports to attract business. When asked whether the Enayam port would take a toll on the business of VOC port, he felt that it would not be an immediate concern and they had to monitor it in the longer run. 

However, if Enayam was commissioned Tamil Nadu would get four major ports and would become the only state to have four such facilities in the country, Bose added. He was followed by Sundar, Site Director, KKNPP, who explained in detail about the safety measures in the reactors and claimed that the local workforce had largely been employed in the nuclear plant which would generate employment and result in economic growth of the region. Talking about tripping incidents 32 times in the unit-I in the last two years, Sundar defended it saying that it was nothing unusual in a reactor before commissioning. Tripping was a regular process and even the Unit-II of KKNPP had tripped thrice so far, he added.