Shan A S By

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Movement of large consignments to big project sites is often accompanied by logistic woes.At times, the trees along the route have to be trimmed and vehicular movement suspended so as to facilitate easy passage of huge trucks. The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Thumba here was also staring at such a predicament.

They had to transport critical components, some of them weighing about 200 metric tonnes, for their upcoming project from various centres. Transporting them seemed to be an uphill task until the organization decided to set up a temporary ro-ro jetty at the beach, which will enable movement of consignments by sea.

As per the existing plans, the ro-ro jetty is expected to come up near Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) area of VSSC. The jetty will be constructed using concrete blocks and containers and a permission in this regard was accorded by the Fisheries and Ports department.

Though the VSSC sources declined to reveal the details of the project, they said components were to be transported in 25-30 consignments and it was impossible to move them by road. “Some of the components are as long as 25m. Moving them by road is almost impossible,” the source said.

“Earlier, we used to move one or two truck loads via roads. We had to jack up the overhead electricity supply wires and cut down trees to move them. In the current case, moving 25-30 consignments in that manner is not possible,” the sources added.

As per the plans, the consignments will be brought in on barges from various factories and ISRO centres in the country. They will be lifted off the vessels using cranes.

As per the report filed by Harbour Engineering Department Chief Engineer, setting up of jetty will not cause any hindrance to the movement of fishing vessels or environmental damages. The expenses for the project will be borne by VSSC.