Draft Guidelines for Floating Jetties for Harbours,
Marinas and Fish Landing Facilities
·
Ministry Intends to Promote Floating Jetties for Various Usages
all along the Indian Coastline
[Min of
Shipping Press Release/07.12.2020]
Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has
compiled the draft guidelines for technical specifications of floating
structures, with a vision to set up and deploy world-class floating
infrastructure all along the coastline and issued the same for public consultation.
Floating structure because of its inherent
advantages, is attractive solution and being encouraged by the Ministry of
Ports, Shipping and Waterways. The benefits of floating jetties over the
conventional quay and fixed concrete structures are as follows:
·
It is a cost-effective
solution and much cheaper than conventional structures price.
·
Setting up of floating
structures is much faster as compared to conventional jetties. Usually,
floating structures can be built in 6-8 months as compared to 24 months for
conventional structures.
·
Its environmental impact is minimal.
·
Expansions are easily
feasible due to modular construction techniques.
·
It is easily
transportable in case of reconfiguring of the port.
·
It provides constant freeboard between jetties
and boats.
Deployment of floating jetties, especially in
locations having a large tidal range, where conventional quay poses problems
during low tide periods, is very convenient. Floating Jetties, at such
locations, provide constant freeboard, eases embarkation of ship’s stores and
straightforward unloading of the fishermen’s catch. It consequently leads to
increased productivity as well as safety of the fishermen in the long run.
Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has
successfully implemented a few pilot projects in the recent past by following
the international guiding principles. These include setting up of passenger
floating jetties in Goa, water-aerodromes at Sabarmati River & at Sardar Sarovar Dam (for the
seaplane services) which are yielding the best results. More than 80 similar
projects of the Ministry are under planning stage all along the coastline for
overall development and upliftment of the coastal
community.
A
benchmark and standard specifications at par with international standards are
being evolved by the Ministry so that technical specifications of floating
structures are frozen after due deliberations with various stakeholders. For
this, Ministry has entrusted IIT Chennai to work out the technical
specifications of sustainable floating structures like floating jetties,
water-aerodromes, floating marinas, fish landing facilities etc. so that
precise and stringent technical specifications are established.
The draft guidelines along with proposed
Specifications / Schedule of Technical Requirements (SOTR) are issued for
seeking the feedback and suggestions from the public. The draft guidelines can be accessed on the link: http://shipmin.gov.in/sites/default/files/proforma_guidelines.pdf for which suggestions can
be e-mailed to sagar.mala@nic.in by 11.12.2020.
It has been a priority of the Prime Minister
Shri Narendra Modi’s government to enhance transparency in the governance. The
issuing of draft guidelines and seeking public feedback is a progressive step
in the same direction, which will benefit and prove a milestone for the upliftment of the coastal community in the long run.