Centre says no to Poshitra port,asks developer to look elsewhere

“The minister observed that a study to assess the cumulative impact of all the forthcoming port projects on the Indian coastline is already underway. Hence,he was of the view that till the report is received,it would perhaps be not appropriate to consider this proposal. He also advised the project proponents to come up with some alternate sites as well,” said an official,who was present at the meeting.

During the meeting,wildlife experts M K Ranjitsinh and Asad Rahmani,who carried out the port inspection,said the adjacent Marine National Park at Jamnagar was highly important and the proposed project threatens marine bio-diversity.

“It has rare species of corals,sponges,sea anemones,etc. There are about 477 species of molluscs,out of which about 170 are new. Endangered mammals like dugongs have also been reported in the area,” Rehmani said at the meeting. Considering the importance of marine bio-diversity in the area,members of the inspection team felt that Poshitra Port and the Marine National Park in the Gulf of Kutch cannot exist together.

What is Poshitra Port?
It is near the intermediate port of Okha and at the entrance of the Gulf of Kutch. Gujarat Positra Port Infrastructure,promoted by Sea King Infrastructure Ltd,the pioneers in core infrastructure development in India,was supposed to develop the port along with a private player. The company had earlier developed the Pipavav port,railway lines,integrated modern shipyards,roads and LNG projects.