Paradip July 1: The port authorities here have initiated an effort to settle a land dispute that is blocking a series of infrastructure development projects.

The port authorities have taken up the issue with the state government.

“The dispute has remained unresolved since the day the port was commissioned in the 1960s. The issue needs to be sorted out expeditiously so that the state’s only major port grows further. The issues were discussed with the state’s chief secretary and other senior state government officials last week. A consensus was also reached on certain issues. The port trust hopes the land disputes will be settled shortly. The port requires dispute-free land as a number of infrastructure development projects are awaiting implementation,” Paradip Port Trust chairman Sudhansu Sekhar Mishra told The Telegraph.

Though Paradip is the state’s only major port, proposal for final transfer of land to the port has been lying for nearly five decades. Claims and counter-claims both by the port and state officials over the ownership of specific patches of land had aggravated the issue over the years.

“We have reached a consensus with regard to disputed patches. The outcome of the discussion held recently is heading towards positive direction. By all indications, the land row involving the state government and the port would be resolved shortly,” said the port trust chairman.

The port trust has given consent to part with the land for state government’s use at different places. The state government had asked for land within the port limits for construction of an airstrip, some government offices, places of worship, a building of the Odisha Maritime Academy, a block of the fisheries department and an extension of the irrigation canal. However, the port trust had refused to part with the land on the basis of the Major Ports Act, 1963, and the Public Premises Act, 1971, leading to a stalemate in land transfer.

The port trust asserts ownership over 6,382.07 acre while the state government is insistent on possession of 1,072.27 acre of land out of it for its own use.

The disagreement dates back to May 18, 1966 when it was accorded the status of country’s eighth major port under the Major Ports Act, 1963.