The recent announcement of union minister of shipping GK Vasan about making Jawaharlal Nehru Port a green port has evoked mixed reactions from industry and trade people. However, there seems to be some sort of unanimity among them in their belief that Mr Vasan’s proposed project will be a difficult task to put into action, unlike announcements of new trains by his cabinet colleagues in the rail ministry.
According to the minister, the green port initiative involves setting up of wind and solar power units, usage of CNG vehicles in the port area, water harvesting and forestation, among others. He also said a consultant would be appointed soon to study the project and recommend ways to implement it.
“It’s a good move by the government in tune with the times,” said a senior port personnel at JN Port. “But given the complexity of the project, it should be looked and assessed from all angles. Ports and shipping being part of the international business, making JN Port green cannot achieve much as it forms only a small fraction of the entire value chain of exim cargo traffic. For example, the trailers that load and unload boxes at the port traverse the entire length of the country. The consultants will have to really work hard to come up with practical ways of implementing the plan.”
SRL Narasimhan of Western India Shippers’ Association (WISA) was of the opinion that it is definitely a step in the right direction given the fact that carbon footprint and green issues dominate today.
However, prima facie, the emphasis seems to be on onshore only, he said, adding, “The offshore aspects of pollution should also be under consideration like older vessels, marine pollution, ballast water, etc.”
He pointed out some modern ports have banned older vessels that have been seen as heavy polluters. Will there be any negative impact on trade? The secretary of the shippers’ association thinks “no”. Mr Narasimhan said, “There would not be any negative impact on trade flow due to green norms at the port. Vessel calls depend on forces of supply and demand. Trade is going to be affected only if very stringent rules on carbon emissions are implemented.”
More importantly, he feels that such a step would encourage more ship owners to adopt green ways.
When contacted for comments on the proposal, it was learned that nobody in Indian Port Association (IPA) seems to have heard about it.
No information has come to us, said a source at the association, on condition of anonymity. He felt that more than the modern container port of JN Port, dry bulk ports like Ennore, Vizag and Paradip could have been more feasible for such an exercise, which would have given maximum inputs as far as Indian realities are concerned.
Critics point out that at a time when JN Port is suffering from infrastructure woes such as lack of sufficient draft and old equipment, which are
contributing to diversion of container trade to other ports, toying up with ideas of this sort could be detrimental to the port when it should have been focusing its energies on taking on the emerging resurgence of ocean trade.
According to them, JN Port container terminal’s cargo throughput has already shown a decline of almost 40% compared with last year figures. “Instead of the ministry taking remedial measures to stem the trend and focus on cargo growth, its new plan will divert attention of the management from the various developments activities that are already running behind the schedule,” said a port consultant.
Another JN Port official admitted that the decline is due to various reasons, the primary reason being old cargo handing equipment that the port has been unsuccessfully trying to modernize.
The port has been unable to replace its ageing equipment and it has been unsuccessful with its dredging project, which has been ‘in the process of finalization’ for the last eight years. Added to the challenge are recent developments of extension of the third container berth and development of fourth box terminal and that of special economic zone.
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