HUBLI: The Government has agreed to develop the Karwar Port at a cost of Rs. 4.5 crores. The assurance was given at a meeting of the delegation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) with T. Sukumar, Secretary, Public Works Department, in Bangalore.

During the meeting, the delegation explained the problems existing at the port.

Along with other issues, it brought to the notice of the secretary that ships are finding it difficult to berth at the port because of accumulation of silt as dredging has not been carried out for the last 10 years.

The Government has now agreed to take up dredging and has asked the Director of Ports to submit an estimate.

The Government has also agreed upon the issues such as night navigation facilities, piloting, constitution of a maritime board and a port fund, Mahendra Ladad, Honorary Secretary, KCCI, who was part of the delegation, has said in a release.

The other members of the delegation were N.P. Javali, vice-president, Capt. A.R.B. D'souza, president, Steamer Association, Karwar, A. Nagendra, joint secretary, and N. Vishwanath, under secretary.

It may be noted that the State-owned Karwar Port is a minor port. Of late, it is being used for exporting iron ore, granite and other cargo and for importing edible oil and unrefined sugar.

Neglect

Although the port has the capacity to handle additional cargo from the hinterland in North Karnataka, the neglect of this port has resulted in cargo being diverted to other ports.

To study the problems at the port, a KCCI delegation, led by Shankaranna Munavalli, KCCI president, visited the port last month and had a interaction with the office-bearers of the Karwar Chamber of Commerce.

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