PANAJI: After a delay due to the
Covid-19 pandemic, the captain of ports (CoP) has now set a fresh target to have four
floating jetties ready in the state by the end of this year. In the first phase, three more floating jetties — aside from the one commissioned at the
CoP jetty — were to come up at
Campal, Old Goa and Chapora by June, but will now be commissioned only later this year.
The target, which is part of CoP’s plan, also includes demolishing the existing
lighthouse behind
Kala Academy.
“The department also proposes to take up the demolition of the existing lighthouse structure and reconstruct the same for navigation at Campal,” said a senior CoP official. “PWD has been asked to prepare the feasibility report and once that is received, we will start the process for seeking financial sanction.”
While the floating jetties are being built at a cost of Rs 9.6 crore, which the inland waterways authority of India (IWAI) will fund, the reconstruction of the lighthouse is being funded by the state.
Government officials said that the pandemic and the subsequent austerity measures imposed by the state government had also brought construction of the CoP terminal to a halt.
“In the first phase, four jetties were planned, but because of the pandemic, things got delayed. We are trying to get the jetties commissioned in another four to five months,” said a government official.
All four jetties, funded by the IWAI, were to be installed at Rs 10 crore by the contractor, REL Marintek Infra Pvt Ltd. The first concrete floating jetty, the first in the country, was inaugurated by Union minister of state for shipping, Mansukh Mandaviya, in February. At that time, Mandaviya and state authorities said that the remaining floating jetties would be installed in four months.