Paradip township. Telegraph picture

Paradip, Jan. 19: With land paucity coming in the way of future expansion plans, Paradip Port Trust (PPT) authorities are contemplating to relocate the existing civil township to other locations. Land reclaimed from the township would come handy to spread the core and prohibited area of the port.

Port authorities have requested the state government for allotment of over 600 acres of suitable land for the relocation of the township. “To meet the increasing cargo handling activity, expansion of the port has become imperative. But the crux of problem is that we do not have the required land for carrying out the expansion,” PPT secretary Pravat Kumar Nanda said. He added that unless the township that adjoins the port is shifted somewhere else, an expansion programme is not practicable.

“Our plan is to relocate the civil township to the allotted land,” he said.

“The Paradip port is 50 years old and it’s getting refurbished under massive expansion plan. It has registered an impressive growth over the years. What once started with two berths for cargo and iron-ore handling, now has 14 cargo handling berths and oil handling jetties. It’s cargo handling capacity has gone up to 57 million tonnes from 67,000 tonnes when the port became operational. There has been an unprecedented growth in the traffic handled at this port in the last five years and the port has got ambitious expansion programme to double its capacity to meet the ever-increasing demand,” he said.

State revenue officials, apart from collectors and district magistrates of Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara, have been requested to allot land for the proposed township.

Paradip is emerging as the state’s major industrial hub with industrial ventures like petrochemical and petroleum investment region and the Posco steel project. Expansion of the port holds key to the industrial growth of the region.

The process of land acquisition on the periphery of the port civil township has begun. However, official sources refused to say in clear terms whether that was meant for Paradip port expansion.

“We have served notices under sections of Orissa Land Acquisition Act to land-owners in Pratappur and Fatehpur villages under Kujang tehsil of Jagatsinghpur district. We have plans to acquire 400 acres. Separate notices under sections 4 (1) and 9 (3) of Orissa Land Acquisition act have been served to the landowners. Under the OLA, they have been asked to registered objections, if any, to the land acquisition,” said special land acquisition officer Nrisingha Charan Swain.

“The said land is being acquired under directions from IDCOL. Once the land acquisition is complete, it would be handed over to IDCOL. It should not be construed that land acquisition is only meant for the Paradip port civil township,” he added.