Vizhinjam port to go functional by 2015

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ports Minister K Babu told the Assembly that the construction of civil infrastructure for the Vizhijam trans-shipment terminal is expected to begin after the next year’s monsoon.He said while replying to a calling attention motion moved by Palode Ravi of the Congress on Wednesday that the the port is expected to go functional by 2015. The State Government has already formed a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of Travancore for financing the Vizhinjam project.The construction of the Vizhinjam port project will be undertaken on a build-operate-transfer model, he said.The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has cleared the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the site-specific environmental impact study for the proposed International Container Transshipment Terminal at Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram district, Babu said.He said the Union Ministry had earlier cleared the project-specific ToR for the mandatory environmental impact study. The Minister said that the State Government had announced a package of measures to rehabilitate the families that would have to be shifted from their houses for the sake of the project.