Bangladesh
Dredging Dredging started at Mongla port at a cost of Tk 793 crore
Dhaka, March 13: Inner bar dredging has been started at a cost of Tk 793.72 crore to increase the capacity of Mongla port and ensure smooth arrival of ships at the port jetty. State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury inaugurated the dredging project at Jaymonir Ghol in Mongla on Saturday (March 13) at noon.
Chairman of Mongla Port Authority Rear Admiral Mohammad Musa presided over the inaugural function while Khulna City Corporation Mayor Talukder Abdul Khaleq, Habibun Nahar MP of Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Secretary of Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change Mohammad Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury were special guests.
Meanwhile, Bagerhat Deputy Commissioner ANM Faizul Haque, Mongla Port Authority Member (Harbor and Marine) Captain M Abdul Wadud Tarafdar, Member (Engineering and Development) Md. Imtiaz Hossain, Director (Administration) Md. Gias Uddin, Inner Bar Dredging Project Director Sheikh Shawkat Ali and other department heads, officers and employees of Mongla Port Authority, eminent personalities and media personnel were present.
The excavation of this 19 km inner bar from Jaymonir Ghol of Pashur Channel to Bandar Jetty will solve the navigability crisis of the port. Mongla port will practically become an alternative port to Chittagong port. When this important work is completed, the speed of Mongla port will increase several times.
The total length of the channel from Rampal Thermal Power Station to Fareway Buoy is 145 km. About 19 km from Mongla Port Jetty to Harbaria (Jaymonir Ghol) is marked as Inner Bar. The current depth of the inner bar channel is less than 5.5 meters. At this current depth, ships with a maximum draft of 7 to 7.5 meters can come to the jetty with the help of tides.
Under the project titled “Inner Bar Dredging of Mongla Port Channel”, about 19 km will be excavated from Bandar Jetty to Jaymonir Ghol at a cost of Taka 793.72 crore. As a result, ships with a draft of 9.50 m to 10 m will be able to enter the Mongla port jetty directly. At present, ships with a depth of only 6 meters can come to the port jetty. The project, which was officially inaugurated on March 13, will be completed in 2022. During this time 216.09 lakh cubic meters of sand will be dredged. The dredging will be done by Chinese companies JHCEC and CCECC.
As a result of inner bar dredging, 1500 acres of land will be required to remove the silt and sand. These soils will be dumped by constructing dykes with geotextile tubes on about 500 acres of shallow land along the Pashur river.
