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nthe doc
e~galgov~rnmcl1t's
fond
dreams of ma
Haldia the gateway to
,the Far East may rUJl:..iQto a nightmare
rfHE
strategically-located
Halchannels
tCIl!~
shoal when the
dia Port may be doomed todie
flood/ebb tides 'ilQIl.'t flow in' apan early death. That would reproximate reciproc al directions,
duce the grand visions of a thriving
Importantly.
th,; critical sandbar
port-based
industrial
township
to
on this navigational route is ,,{'tBamerely an illusion.
lari, slightly upstream of the Haldia
With the drafts in the Haldia
jetties, north of be Nayachara ischannel depleting to alarming levels
land, Not only ha!' the Balari bar inat 7.5 - 8 metres even during spring
crcasingly hindered navigation, it
tides, tidal hydraulic experts fear:
has litcrally governed the available
"The day isn't far when ordinary
river drafts fortite Calcuua docks.
tankers will be unable to call at
Worse, with the heavy shoaling
Huldia'[Link] is virtually impossible to
over flak,r; bar in the years, the main
[Link]
dccp-dralt ta~kcJs=---cbb now JU1S..ru::C!l getting diverted
~Jl!j btrlk nil rlCfS in11lcTlalZh
dwt
(and above) category at l luldia port,
given the pace at which the Jellingham-l laldia approach channel has
been tapering.
That the J laldia Dock Complex
(! !DCl,lo which is anchored the fate
of the sensitive Rs 4.6()()-crorc petrochcmicals
venture 'i, rapidly ho;coming defunct. ha'> [Link] remained
a closely-guarded
secret of politicians and bureaucrats.
Since the
Haldia project will be sourcing its
naphtha needs from the :OCrefinery
I
nearby, its fortunes. with IOC's, will
towards
the Rangalella
channel,
undoubtedly be hit if crude imports
which eventually
compelled
the
through HDC plummet.
CPT to close the Haldia channel in
Some disturbing observations hy
1987 as Calcutta-bound
vessels
leading tielal hy.;raulic cxrcns in a
could no longer negotiate the Balari,
confidential
report, currently with
Though Haldia-bound
vessels haTire Economic Times, may throw
ven't been affected till date, ships
light Oil what precipitated the crisis
bound for Calcutta, have since been
:;t Haldia docks, According to them:
using the Rangafclla.
"The grim outlook is largely a lallApparently.
the multiple 'river
out of consistent bureaucratic buntraining schemes then undertaken by
gling in the highest echelons of the
cvrto
quell the huge sand accretion
Calcutta Port TI "\1 apart from the
around BaJari and save HOC, the reconvenient river-training misadvcnport notes, "Wer~' reprehensible;
to
ture in the Hooghly estuary downput it mildly", Experts add: "AI--;:;ream
of Diamond Harbour",
though a cornprehensi ve scheme
The Hooghly estuary', as the map
was drafted as early as 1982 to augdepicts, is bifurcated hy the Nayament the navigable depths over Bachara island -- 011 its western side
lari bar, its flawed implementation
runs the Haldia channel and to its
by a retinue of PWD engineers, who
ast, the Rangafe!\a channel. For 10
were mere dabblers in tidal hydraulong years, since the commissioning
lies. rendered it totally ineffective,
of the HOC, the Haldiachanncl
was
culminating
in the CPT wasting
the common navigational
route to
crores of rupees."
I
the twin-dock systems -at Calcutta
Significantly,
the scheme
had
and Haldia,
stressed construction
of the NorthHowever, "the non-uniform flow
em Guidewall over Nayachara isof the flood (in-going)
and ebb
land and capital dredging across the
(out-going)
tides, characteristic
of
Balari bar to be undertaken sirnultathe Hooghly, invariably took its toll
neously to induce" increased
ebb'
on the Haidia ehanne1;(\,thc!JTc'pOl't"t flow inco the Haldia chanhel':"'HdWnoresllris
common kl\.t;wle(\gc that .' ever, i1ie'Cvr's hydraulic el\~irjcer-
Even ordinary
tankers will
soon be unable
to call at
Haldia Port
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dia port, and sound the death knell
for the gamut of port-based industries slated to come lip at Haldiu".
On the contrary, the report - a
below the Jcllingham channel with a :
shore disposal scheme;
III To direct tidal flux into the Haldia
channel Irom thc sea, the port auihon-
cusec .from Fnrnkka were availahle
copy of which has been sent to the
!i-c~;cuu!dc\'cnconsidcrthcim}1'lediiitc
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Datum 01 river Hooghly Is an Imaginary level 01 the river below
which the tidal level never lalls.
All dep!hs on navigational/survey
charts of the river shown
with reference
to such datum,
Horizonta! scale - lcm : 1 yr
Vertical scale - 1 cm: lmtr
- a rarity during the lean season CPT - has appealed to the central
it would merely be a fraction of the
and state governments
to expedite
tidal discharge around Balari during
steps to save the now vulnerable
spring/neap tides. Meaning, the imHaldia port, which incidentally. acpact of the upland discharge on the
counts for a phenomenal 75 per cent
estuary around Balari is insignifiof the CPT's aggregate revenue,
cant, notwithstanding
its effectiveNotably, tidal hydraulic ex pens
ness on the stretch between Calcutta
familiar with the cyclic pattern of the
,and Diamond Harbour.
river and its consequences,
have
While many renowned experts,
made
several
recommendations,
including the learned Prof Donald
which they believe the bungling
MeDowcll, who had established the
CPT authorities, ought to implement
CPT's erstwhile hydraulic study e1cforthwith:
partment, forsce the eventual aban Instead of pressing ahead with the
doninent of the [Link]: experts arc
proposed Rs' 250-odd ,crore tapit~II.:!
quick to note that "it willinevitably'.'l
~*dglllg scheme to [Link] Balhn,':"
seal the approach channel to the Hal-: . capital dredging should be carried out
<r-:
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llijg~q9C{iji.Y;~si!l~ti~~F.
ing wing," the report alleges, "In utter disregard, merely advocated construction of the Guidcwall over a
IO-year span, without dredging the
already mammoth Balari sandbar",
Strangely, pClJ1 sources disclosed
that "Not unly was the exercise contrary to the very objectives of the
much-touted
comprehensive
river
training scheme, the CfYf, ended up
helling out a staggering Rs 46 crore
against the mere Rs 4.82 crore originally budgeted",
Worse. with the Nayachara bulging on its western side, the Haldia
channel has become further t"n
stricted.
And with the island's
southern tip now threatening to encroach .into the Haldia channel. the
very ex-istence of the dock ",'stem
has been called into question. '
In this conte",\-t. experts revealed
that "recent attcrnpts..Q~ the CPT to
open a dredge-cut channel across the
Balari bar was yet again in viill~nntl
the channel proved a veritable ,Htrap", "Obviously,
the CPT hasn't
learnt from bitter experiences in the
past, once again blowing up a whopping Rs l ti-odd crorcs, in consequence," they rued.
Furthermore,
they have lambas
ted the popular theory doing the
rounds that the deterioration
of the
Balari bar was largely due to the
non-availabiluv
or the desired
40,000 cusccs -of upland discharge
from Farakka.
Branding it as "hollow and selfcontradictory,
tidal hydraulic
experts contend: "The very idea of
striking an equilibrium between up-.
land discharge and tidal flux to resolve the problems in the inner cstuary of the Ilooghly is devoid of logic, given that tidal Ilux varies sharply with the distance of propagation
of the tides,"
Conversely.
they believe "True
expertise would lie in implementing
the corrective measures for achicving the desired flow pattern without
curtailing tidal nux".
For that matter, even if the 40,000
!J
removal of spurs at the Kaukhali
crossing;
III Construction of a cross spur al Kantah'!.ria (between Diamond Harbour
and Kalpi). preferably by placing an
old. condemned dredger awthwartly
and simultaneously dredge the Jiggarkhali sands to ensure deflection of the
strung ebb currents from the eastern
bank to the western bank on top of the
Balari sandbar;
III Discourage construction of another
guidcwali Oil the southern tip of Naya- /
chara, since its expanding tail is already s~ivillg as a [Link],1. ""
.
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DKnlyan Parbat
.
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