Seaport users hail proposed widening of road to VOC Port

MADURAI: The seaport users in Thoothukudi and the shipping industry stakeholders expressed happiness after Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari announced that the Union government has allocated Rs 200 crore for the conversion of existing four-lane road to a six-lane road at a distance of 5.16 kilometres with aim of increasing cargo traffic along the VO Chidambaranar Port.

Hailing the announcement, P Jeyanth Thomas, vice president of Tuticorin Ship Agents Association, said the much-awaited express highway would help ease the flow of cargo.

According to the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme–NICDC Logistics Data Services (NLDS), the VOC Port in Thoothukudi is one of the fastest in terms of cargo handling. Be it import or export cargo, containerised or bulk cargo or factory stuffed, cargo movement is fast from the Port to CFS and vice versa. More importantly, the six-lane road infrastructure would result in the reduction of transportation costs and improve efficiency. On average, about 40 per cent of cargo is containerised and the rest is in bulk volume, Thomas told DT Next on Sunday.

According to J David Raja, logistics convener of the CII, Thoothukudi, the VOC Port in Thoothukudi would be the only seaport in India to have connectivity with two national highways including NH-45 and NH-7. K Nehruprakash, president, Thoothukudi District Tiny and Small Scale Industries Association (THUDITSSIA) said that with the international furniture park in Thoothukudi poised to take off, the widened road would attract more foreign investments.

T Velshankar, president of Tuticorin Stevedores Association, said the bigger road should be extended up to Madurai and the government should initiate steps to take up Madurai-Thoothukudi industrial corridor project as envisaged earlier.