The Dhamra Port is a port in
Bhadrak district
Bhadrak is a district of Odisha state in eastern India. Bhadrak city is the headquarters and the largest city of the district.
Origin of name
The district is named after goddess Bhadrakali whose temple is situated in Agarpada which is 8  ...
,
Odisha
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, on the shore of the
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...
about seven kilometres from the old port of
Dhamra
Dhamra (or Dhamara) is a small community on the banks of the Dhamra River in the Bhadrak district of Odisha state, India. They were Shoodars before independence, as it's in history. Others believe they're descendants of Clan Loot. It developed ...
. The agreement to develop the port was signed in April 1998. The Dhamra Port Company Limited (DPCL) was formed as a result of a 50:50 joint venture between
Larsen & Toubro
Larsen & Toubro Ltd, commonly known as L&T, is an Indian multinational conglomerate company, with business interests in engineering, construction, manufacturing, technology, information technology and financial services, headquartered in Mumba ...
and TATA Steel to run the port.
[ The Port received its first vessel on 8 February 2010 and the first commercial vessel on 10 April 2011.] The Port has an initial capacity of 25 million tonnes annually, eventually growing to 80 million tonnes annually.[
]Greenpeace
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
has opposed the project, claiming it threatens nearby protected areas and endangered species such as the olive ridley turtle
The olive ridley sea turtle (''Lepidochelys olivacea''), also known commonly as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Cheloniidae. The species is the second-smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in th ...
[
]
Objectives
The port was taken over by Adani Port in June 2014. Construction of a $12 billion steel plant by Posco
POSCO (formerly Pohang Iron and Steel Company) is a South Korean steel-making company headquartered in Pohang, South Korea. It had an output of of crude steel in 2015, making it the world's fourth-largest steelmaker by this measure. In 2010, i ...
of South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, and the new port of Dhamara, promise to bring jobs and development. The port will be used to export iron ore from a nearby mineral belt.[
The Odisha government has plans to develop related industries near the new port, including a shipbuilding yard and a petrochemical and gas-based manufacturing hub.
A special investment region has been proposed for Dhamara, and a zoning plan is being prepared to cover housing, health services and other urban infrastructure.][
A new airport/Airstrip is approved by government of odisha near Dhamra port of around 500 acres.]
National Waterway 5 project of connecting water channels between Pardeep and Dhamra is also in the construction stage by IWAI.
A proposed 4 lane NH is also in DPR stage connecting to Dhamra port from Jamujhadi NH16.
Existing jamujhadi-basudebpur-Dhamra road is under construction and is been done on PPP mode.
A tea processing unit is planned to have a unit in Dhamra port.
Construction
During the year 1997 Government of Odisha invited M/s International Seaports dredging Private Limited (ISDPL) to explore and evaluate the possibilities of expanding the minor port at Dhamra with modern contemporary facilities. After a site visit and preliminary discussions/evaluation, selected Dhamra port for further expansion. Based on a review of studies undertaken by the Government of Odisha and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Chennai, as well as a preliminary field analysis ISDPL proposed a broad project approach. On this basis ISDPL and Government of Odisha entered into a memorandum of understanding on 31.03.97 for the expansion and development of the existing port of Dharma on Built Own Operate Share and Transfer (BOOST) basis. ISDPL signed the concession agreement with the Government of Odisha on 02.04.98. Thereby heralding a new era in the infrastructure development in the port sector of the country with private participation.
The proposed Dhamra port is a minor port in the northern part of the state of Orissa situated about 62 km east of Bhadrak station on the Howrah-Chennai East coast mainline.
Dhamra port is to be developed as a most modern all-weather, deep-water port, capable of handling all modern shipping efficiently and cost effectively on world standard norms. Development of a suitable road and rail system linking the port with the national network is also considered a vital and integral part of the project. ISDPL proposed that the railway line between Dhamra port and Bhadrak would be built on private siding terms, which is subsequently granted by Railway board.
In the meantime, ISDPL had withdrawn its participation from this project due to difficulties in the acquisition of land required for the proposed rail links between Bhadrak and Renital stations and in the change in the composition of the companies investing in the project. This resulted in suspension of activities.
In the year 2005, a joint venture company formed in the name of Dhamra Port company limited with 50-50 partnership of Larsen & Toubro Limited and Tata steels limited.
The planned port would have 13 berths with the capacity to handle 83 million tonnes annually. In the first phase, two 350 meter berths have been built to handle import of coking coal, steam coal, thermal coal and limestone, and export of iron ore and steel, with fully mechanized cargo handling. An 18 km navigational channel lets ships with an 18-meter draught use the port. Capacity in the first phase is 15.25 million tonnes of imported coal and limestone and 9.75 million tonnes of exported ore and steel.[
A 62 km single-track railway line links the port to ]Bhadrak
Bhadrak is a city of Odisha state in eastern India. The city is the district headquarters of Bhadrak district. According to legend, the city derives its name from the Goddess Bhadrakali, whose temple is on the banks of the Salandi River.
His ...
/ Ranital, was opened on 8 May 2011. It is the first line of the Indian Government's Railways Infrastructure for Industry Initiative, a revenue sharing model. It is an arrangement between Indian Railways
Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...
and Dhamara Port.
In September 2010, the port received its first cargo vessel, an Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n ship bringing 45,000 tonnes of coking coal to supply Tata Steel's Jamshedpur
Jamshedpur (, ) or Tatanagar is the largest and most populous city in Jharkhand and the first planned industrial city in India. It is a Notified Area Council and Municipal Corporation and also the headquarter of the East Singhbhum district. It ...
plant.[
In March 2014, the port received biggest cargo vessel among the ]ports in India
India has a coastline spanning 7516.6 kilometres, forming one of the biggest peninsulas in the world. According to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, around 95 per cent of India's trading by volume and 68 per cent by value is done ...
named ''Macau Mineral'' carrying 1,94,073 tonnes of coal from the Port of Richards Bay
The Port of Richards Bay is located in Richards Bay harbour on the Indian Ocean coast of South Africa, and contains the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) which is the largest coal export facility in Africa.
Although originally built to handle coa ...
, South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. The Dhamra Port became first among the ports in India
India has a coastline spanning 7516.6 kilometres, forming one of the biggest peninsulas in the world. According to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, around 95 per cent of India's trading by volume and 68 per cent by value is done ...
to berth a parcel size vessel of 2,07,785 DWT (dead weight tonnage).
Environmental concerns
The coast of Odisha is periodically battered by cyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...
s, which cause tidal surges that may cause devastating floods. In the past, the coast was protected by a 5 km belt of mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...
s, but the belt has shrunk due to developments such as dams on the rivers that supply fresh water to the trees.
An unusually violent cyclone in 1999 created tidal surges 7 meters high that swept inland, killing 10,000 people and causing property damage that affected several million inhabitant of the coastal strip.
There is a concern that the deepwater port will further damage the mangroves, including those at the nearby Bhitarkanika Mangroves
Bhitarkanika Mangroves is a mangrove wetland in Odisha, India, covering an area of in the Brahmani River and Baitarani River deltas.
History
The Bhitarkanika Mangroves were zamindari forests until 1952, when the government of Odisha abolish ...
conservation area.[
In May 2010 a non-partisan group of 20 politicians began lobbying to halt construction, which they claimed was in violation of the Forest Conservation Act of 1980.][
The planned port is located just north of the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary, where from 200,000 to 500,000 female olive ridley turtles nest every year. Although the port site is not a nesting area, environmentalists are concerned that dredging and industrial pollution will disrupt the environment and the natural food chain.][
In July 2007, ]Greenpeace
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
activists staged a rally in front of Bombay House, headquarters of the TATA Group
The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest conglomerate, with products and services in over 150 countries, and operations in 100 countries across six continent ...
, demanding a halt to construction of the port which they claimed would harm the turtles.[
The DPCL has rejected concerns about the impact.
They state that all environmental clearances were obtained correctly, that the main breeding grounds for the turtles are well to the south, and that the shipping lanes will not cut across turtle migration routes.][
TATA & Sons filed a suit against Greenpeace in the Delhi High Court, claiming a "Turtle vs TATA" game on their website constituted defamation and trademark infringement.][
The ]Cyclone Yaas
Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Yaas () was a relatively strong and very damaging tropical cyclone that made landfall in Odisha and brought significant impacts to West Bengal during late May 2021. The second cyclonic storm, second severe cyclonic st ...
made a landfall in Balasore
Balasore or Baleswara is a city in the state of Odisha, about north of the state capital Bhubaneswar and from Kolkata, in eastern India. It is the largest town of northern Odisha and the administrative headquarters of Balasore district. It i ...
, Odisha
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...
near the port, which resulted in severe destruction.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhamra Port
Ports and harbours of Odisha
Bhadrak district
2010 establishments in Orissa
Transport infrastructure completed in 2010