First national waterway floating jetty ready for launch today

PANAJI: The first of the four floating jetties planned in the state under the national waterways (NW) project is ready. Union minister of state for shipping Mansukh Mandaviya and chief minister Pramod Sawant will commission it on Friday.
The floating jetty, which is an extension of the existing Captain of Ports (CoP) floating jetty, will serve as a mooring point for boats operated by the offshore casinos, said CoP officials.
According to officials, the concrete floating jetty boasts of fenders, water facilities, fire extinguishing systems, electrical cabling, lights, drainage outlets and pumps in order to facilitate smooth operations of small vessels. A separate location will be setup for discharge and disposal of sewage. It has been setup by Marinetek India as part of the Inland Waterways Authority of India’s (IWAI) national waterways project.
Around mid-2018, in the face of stiff opposition from locals to the Centre’s river nationalisation plan, the state government, Mormugao Port Trust and IWAI quietly inked a tripartite memorandum of understanding whereby it was agreed that MPT would implement the national waterways project on behalf of IWAI. In October 2018, MPT floated the tender for the design and commissioning of three concrete floating jetties on Mandovi (NW 68) and one on Chapora (NW 25).
At that time, the cost of all four floating jetties was pegged at Rs 13 crore.
According to officials, IWAI has provided the funds for the floating jetties. “The pre-fab work on the pontoons for the second floating jetty at Old Goa has also started and is nearing completion,” said Marinetek India director Gautama Dutta.
The other two floating jetties planned are at the Panaji-Betim ferry point and in the Chapora river, on the west side of Siolim-Chopdem bridge.
Six rivers — Mandovi (44km), Zuari (50km), Cumbharjua (17km), Chapora (33km), Mapusa (27km) and Sal (14km) — in the state have been identified as rivers of national importance under the nationalisation of waterways project.