sep 27
i mentioned this before. it is part of a jihad for tamil nadu's glory by the dmk types.
the part about the destruction of what is believed to be rama's bridge by hindus does not enter into the picture at all. naturally. hindus after all have no power to preserve things that are important to them.
the large-scale dredging there will result in unpredictable side-effects. much like all the US Army Corps of Engineers dredging and straightening of rivers and whatnot in the Mississippi Delta and in Florida have created huge problems. this is why i am skeptical about the river-linking project too. i'm afraid we'll open up a pandora's box.
in terms of setting up a trans-shipment container terminal, the best bet would have been vizhinjam, with its draft of 56 feet. instead, the christian govt of oommen chandy got it moved to the christian-dominated town of cochin. there should be no investment in southern kerala because there are hindus there, naturally. the big investments should go to southern tamil nadu or central kerala because that's where the christians are, and of course the dmk is a christian construction. vizhinjam getting the container terminal would have made a lot of sense: it is 300 nautical miles closer to the international shipping lanes in the arabian sea than cochin is.
neither cochin nor tuticorin has a big comparative advantage when it comes to deep water suitable for large container ships. i seriously doubt if after dredging and destroying rama's bridge, there will be any benefit at all to tuticorin. colombo and trincomalee both are far better ports than tuticorin.
you may think there's an element of regional bias here, and you will be right. however, the basic points are correct. sethusamudram is an ecological and archaelogical disaster in the making.
http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=25946
5 comments:
Once has to carefully see who the real beneficiers are with this project. The christian angle cannot be discounted -- I believe Tutucorin is a Christian stronghold and by dredging they will kill two birds with one stone, one their stonghold on this port city will get stronger, while they destroy India's heritage at the same time!
Sources say that Vaiko is a Christian convert, and perhaps TR Balu too -- one wonders where the trail would lead to!
Tuticorin, well it does not even fall in a straight line of international shipping lines. Most ships go to Colombo or Trincomalee, (depending on which side you are going). Who is going to take a halt taking a detour over whole of SriLanka or Kanyakumari, and then again turn back. At best, it can be a port for medium vessels and low traffic, not like Nava Sheva (Near Mumbai), or Kandla. To serve the eastern side, Chennai would prove better than Tuticorin, and northward up, you have Vishakhapatnam and Haldia to serve the mainland. Investing in Tuticorin is money down the drain.
Vizhinjam at TVPM is the ideal Trans-shipment terminal. But TVPM is always cursed with 'soft', 'secular' leaders.
Compare the pathetic condition of TVPM airport with that of fully developed Cochin Airport.
In Kerala, all politicians wet their pants, seeing a paedophile bishop. and these same bishops run the government today and decide where all they need developments (Where their fascist community members multiply in large nos.) Fanatic bishops and their lap-dogs like Oomen chandy hate to see the economic uplift of poor Muslims and hindus living close to Vizhinjam. Everyone in kerala knows the Toddy-industry was destroyed by the dogmatic ideologies of some wicked cardinals. Result - poverty and numerous deaths among the back-ward hindus like ezhavas. isnt this a kind of ethnic cleaning? modern day inquisition?
I was surprised to see the message about International transhipment hub port in Tuticorin / Cochin rather than at Vizhinjam. First of all we have to understand the concept of international transhipment ports. It is just not about the draught alone which decides the location of a hub port. If it is so, then there are numerous other locations throughout the Indian coast.
A hub port requires a host of other infrastructure such as huge hinterland, storage space, road connectivity to other places, existing competencies, all round the year operations, and most of all, calm labour force. If you look at all these, Tuticorin qualifies best to be chosen as an International Hub port. Cochin has got a number of inherent problems and Vizhinjam does not have any other advantage than the draught, like Colachel in Tamilnadu.
The making of Tuticorin into a hubport does not depend on implementing Sethusamudram project at all. Detailed studies have been made by Tuticorin Hub Port Development Council, through Pricewaterhouse Coopers, where it is evident that Tuticorin has got the ability to be a stand alone successful competitor to Colombo as a hub port.
No other port in India has got the advantages of Tuticorin such as peaceful labour, 365 days working capabilities (due to calm weather), enormous hinterland, existing successful major port, etc. In fact, it is only 126 nautical miles from the International Sea route, making it a viable one.
Giving this issue a religious or a communal color will do no good to our development.
I we want to go into logical arguments let us do them one by one
Let us first agree on Factors Considered
Distance from International shipping Channel
Vizhinjam + NATURAL
Natural Depth
Vizhinjam + NATURAL
Road Infrastructure
NOT Vizhinjam - Will be Fixed with NHDP and Golden Quadrilateral
Rail Infrastructure
NOT Vizhinjam - This can be easily fixed
Skilleed workforce
Same as every other port
Annual Operatinc Cost /Viability
Vizhijan ( No real Dredging cost )
When a large port like Vizhinjam can accomodate Mother ships and super size ships , there is a major requirement for feeder ships and ports , which means tuticorin , colachel , thangassery , cochin can accomodate feeder vessels . Here in lies the multiple harbour strategy which in effect is a win win for all ports and for India as a whole. Let us recognize the divisive western and anti-India forces which tries to make us do infighting amongst ourselves and not fall into the trap of which port is better . The overall eco-system is better for all of us .
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