Removal of silt from river mouth nearing completion; Gadkari to be invited

The Puducherry port will be ready to handle cargo operations by the end of this month or beginning of next year, Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy said here on Saturday.

Addressing a press conference, the Chief Minister said Marg company, which operates the port at Karaikal, had taken over dredging from the Dredging Corporation of India.

The firm was in the last leg of removing silt from the river mouth to facilitate entry and exit of barge, he said.

The Chennai Port Trust had arranged two ships to ferry containers to the port here. The ships would be berthed in the sea and from there the cargo would be brought to the harbour in a barge.

Mr. Narayanasamy said he and Minister for Port M. Kandasamy would visit New Delhi next week to invite Union Minister for Shipping Nitin Gadkari to inaugurate the port operations.

Air services

The Chief Minister also informed Air Odhisha’s decision to launch two flights from the airport. While one would operate in Chennai-Pondy-Salem-Puducherry sector, another one would be used in Chennai-Pondy-Salem sector.

The government had initiated talks with Jet Airways and IndiGo to operate to cities such as Tirupati, Coimbatore and Kochi.

On other initiatives of the government, he said a sum of ₹3.42 crore had been sanctioned for beautification and tourism infrastructure works in Ousteri lake.

A company from Chennai evinced interest to start paragliding in Ousteri, the Chief Minister said.

He also informed the government’s decision to start a welfare fund to provide solatium to the family of lawyer’s in case of accidental death. A sum of ₹27 lakh had been sanctioned for the purpose.

The government decided to provide a monthly stipend of ₹3,000 to entry-level lawyers for three years like in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The government had been able to provide job to as many as 239 differently abled persons after the 3% reservation policy was announced, he said.

The Chief Minister also justified his government’s decision to increase taxes levied by the Municipalities and Commune Panchayats.

On the statement by Congress legislator M.N.R Balan about his opposition to the increase in tax structure, he said the move was taken to make civic bodies’ revenue surplus. Besides, the tax structure was not altered for a long time, he said.

The concerns expressed by the legislator would be addressed, he said.