A Committee of the Shipping Ministry is to examine the proposal to set up a major port-cum-ship building facility at Azhikal in Kerala.

The four-member technical committee will study the Kerala Government's proposal identifying Azhikal in Kannur District as the location for this maritime project. It will submit its report in three months.

Headed by the Cochin Port Trust Chairman, Mr Paul Antony, the committee has the Chairman and Managing Director of Cochin Shipyard Ltd, Commodore K. Subramaniam, the Development Advisor (Ports), Ministry of Shipping, Mr B. Poiyaamozhi (Convenor), and senior Hydrographic Surveyor, Mr D.S.R. Satya Prakash, as its members.

In association with the district administration concerned, the committee will identify the land and get the required documents to finalise the location for the facility.

The committee has also been asked to study the profile of the major and minor ports in the neighbourhood of Azhikal and to prepare a profile of cargo traffic through these ports and their capacities.

The committee will study the updated navigational charts of the proposed sites/locations to assess the natural draft with a view to developing an all-weather port and ship-building establishment.

Identifying the backup area to be handed over to the port developer will also be the responsibility of the committee. The area has to be identified in such a way that human displacement problems are minimal. The site has to be looked at from the point of view of environmental concerns too.

Rail and road connectivity to the proposed port's hinterland and the overall infrastructure and investment requirement would also be assessed by the committee.

> sajeevkumar@thehindu.co.in

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