Malpe port phase IV work proposed at Rs 19 crore: MLA

Legislator Pramodh Madhwaraj said the fourth stage work of Malpe port has been proposed at Padukere at a cost of Rs 19 crore to accommodate more fishing boats.

Speaking to mediapersons after visiting the slipway, Malpe-Padukere bridge and the ongoing drudging works, he said Rs 49.90 crore has been spent on the third phase work, which is in the final stages now. Chief minister will inaugurate the third stage of the port. The fourth stage project will be taken up adjacent to the bridge, he added.

Madhwaraj said the Malpe port can accommodate 1,500 boats and its third stage can house nearly 500 boats. A sum of Rs 25 lakh has been spent on the concrete road which connects the third stage of the port. The highest number of boats are found in Malpe, he added. 

He said dredging work has been taken up at a cost of Rs 2.2 crore as it is a long-awaited demand of the fishermen. The tender was fixed for Rs 1.87 crore.About 90,000 cubic metres of silt needs to be dredged and there should be three metre of water, that is 9-10 feet depth. Currently, the level of water is 1.5 metre and the remaining is silt. The waste is dumped in the mid-sea somewhere 10 kilometres away from the shore, he stated.

The MLA said the work began in March, instead of February,  due to a few technical issues. The work will resume after monsoon. It will be completed in six months. Payment will not be made without the completion of the work, he noted.

Elaborating on the newly-built slipway, the MLA said it is a facility meant for fishermen to pull up the boats mechanically. Earlier, it was done manually and they had to pay a huge sum for it. The slipway has been built at a cost of Rs 2.39 crore.

TEBMA Shipyard, as part of its corporate social responsibility initiative, has offered to provide Rs 1.52 crore (Rs 77 lakh for mechanical work and Rs 75 lakh for civil work). The bearing capacity of the slipway is 60 tonnes and at once, 13 boats can be parked for maintenance, repair and renovation. The work will be completed by April 30. It is similar to that of the one in Kochin, he added.

The MLA said the bridge work connecting Malpe-Padukere will be completed by July. It is being built at a cost of Rs 14 crore, he added.

He said the required additional funds were arranged from State Finance Commission (SFC). The work was delayed due to non-availability of stones in the area. Rs 10.58 crore payment has been already made and a project monitoring committee has been set up.

The bridge’s height has been increased --- it is now 430 metres in length and 6.25 metres in width, he stated.  Out of the total nine spans, seven have been completed. The bridge, which runs to half-a-kilometre, connects Kaup, Uliyargioli and Kankoda. Plans have chalked out to put Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) buses, the MLA added.