Subir Raha on the Nayachar recce. Picrture by Bishwarup Dutta

Nayachar, Feb. 25: The six-member expert committee constituted by the state government to see the technical and economic feasibility of a chemical industry on Nayachar liked what it saw on the first visit to the island today.

Led by former ONGC chairman and the Hinduja group vice-chairman in India, Subir Raha, the team (see box) of scientists that included oceanographers and chemical engineers spent over two hours criss-crossing the island.

“Prima facie, it looks good. The initial drilling suggests that the soil has load-bearing capacity. However, we will look into more than 10 areas — oceanography, geology, bio-diversity and meteorology among others — before submitting our report to the government,” Raha said.

He scotched apprehensions that a state-appointed committee would eventually end- orse the government’s views. “The chief minister requested me for this job. Whatever will be the finding, I will tell, good or bad.”

After the trip, the committee members met in Haldia and requested the government to conduct studies on the island’s stability and navigability and the project’s environment impact.

PCR Chemicals, a joint venture between the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation and New Kolkata Industrial Development, will conduct these studies and submit a report.

The experts’ panel will meet again on March 15.

As the committee awaits the result of various studies, individual members seem to have reasons to believe that chemical industries can be developed on Nayachar.

“The island has been growing by 1sqkm every year for the past 30 years. So, there is no reason to believe that the island will go under the river,” said Anandadeb Mukhopadhyay, an oceanographer.

Mukhopadhyay, who has visited the island before in an individual capacity, has carried out preliminary studies to see the load-bearing capacity of the soil.

“It is better than Calcutta and almost the same as Haldia. I don’t think there can be any problem in using the island for industry,” he added.

Chemical engineers Siddhartha Datta and Sunando DasGupta believe chemical industry on the island will not impact environment.

“From our point of view, it is possible. However, we will study what impact the Haldia industrial cluster has had in the past 30 years to find out what can happen on Nayachar,” Datta said.

According to Dasgupta, waste disposal would also not be a problem.

The key challenge for the chemical hub project remains availability of a nearby deep-sea port. Raha, whose Hinduja group had evinced interest in investing in the hub, said a port with a depth of 20 metres was a must.

Moreover, a study has to be conducted to see if a undersea pipeline could be built from the Haldia port to Nayachar to bring crude. If that is not feasible, crude or liquid cargo has to be ferried by smaller ships, adding to the cost.

“While there is technology for everything, there is a cost, too. Eventually, an investor will look at the costs and benefits and compare them with other opportunities across the world before putting up a plant here,” Raha said.