Chennai port's proposed conta-iner terminal extension project is at a fairly advanced stage of completion and is scheduled to be completed by mid-July 2002. The Rs 53 crore newly built 290-metre extended terminal would be handed over to the Chennai Container Terminal Ltd, the operation and maintenance contractor of Chennai Port Trust. 
    Confirming this to Project Monitor, Srinivasa Kannan, SE - Planning & Design, CPT, said that the extended terminal was in addition to the existing terminal of 600 metres, privatised in June 2001. Chennai Container Terminal Ltd, a consortium of P&O port, Australia, for 30 years, will develop material handling infrastructure in the new terminal. CCTL has imported material handling equipments and work of installing it will be taken up in September. The extended terminal will go in for container traffic movement by mid-2003. 
    Meanwhile, work on the extension of South Quay III and modernisation of East Quay berth is nearly 90 per cent complete. The scheme involves the construction of a new 372-m long berth at East Quay in addition to extending the existing South Quay III berth by 73 m. The depth of the berth is being increased to 11 m and on completion it will increase the general cargo handling capacity by another 0.7 million tonnes per annum. Both facilities are expected to go on stream this August. 
    The port trust is also contemplating the diversion of its POL and iron ore cargo traffic to Ennore port. This would decongest its Bharathi Dock facility and enable it to concentrate exclusively on general cargo traffic. The move is based on the feedback from Fredric Harries Consultant, appointed by Asian Development Bank. Srinivasa Kannan said that as of now nothing was concrete and a final decision would emerge after September this year.

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