Work on to develop Chennai harbour, 4 others as trade hubs, says Murugan

A meeting to take forward the announcements of the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was held and the work would commence soon, he said. Interacting with fishermen at Kasimedu here, Murugan said. The five harbours are Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Kochi (Kerala), Visakhapatnam(Andhra Pradesh), Paradip (Odisha), and Petuaghat (West Bengal).

The long coastline offers scope for development and along with this the seaweed park the first special economic park in the country to come up in Tamil Nadu will increase the prospects of employment and exports besides enhancing income, Murugan said. He said the park would be a boon to fisherwomen as it would be implemented through women’s self-help groups (SHGs) or society.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen on ensuring development and accordingly, he has initiated appropriate measures, said Murugan, who is also Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting.

At Tiruvottiyur Kuppam in the neighboring Tiruvallur district where a port is being built at an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore with contribution from the Central Fisheries and Fisheries Development Fund (FIDF), the Minister said the project upon completion would provide 8,000 people jobs.

Inspecting the work at the site today, he directed the authorities to expedite the work. Also, he reviewed the works being carried out at the other ports in the Tharangambadi and Nagapattinam districts of Tamil Nadu.

The sponge farming program, being undertaken with the assistance from the Central government, should be expedited and proper training should be imparted to fishermen, he said and enquired with the officials about the status of the works under execution in Tamil Nadu under the Matsaya Sampatha Yojana scheme.

Jawahar, additional secretary, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying, Tamil Nadu, and Palanichamy, director, Fisheries Department, were present during the review meeting.

Earlier, Murugan launched a drive to clean the Besant Nagar Beach here. BJP Tamil Nadu unit chief K Annamalai was also present. The drive is a part of the string of events being organized by the BJP to celebrate the 71st birthday of the Prime Minister. The beach-cleaning drive was launched as part of Narendra Modi’s ambitious Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission).

Speaking on the occasion, Annamalai said the BJP has chalked out programs to celebrate the birthday of the Prime Minister as Seva Day for 20 days till October 7. We will reach out to the people and serve them as an honor to Modiji, who served as Chief Minister for 13 years and as Prime Minister for seven years. His life is about service to people, hence the numerous activities for 20 days, said Annamalai.

Later in the evening, he inaugurated a touchscreen interactive display at Kamalalayam, the BJP state headquarters here.

In Coimbatore, BJP Mahila Morcha national president, and Coimbatore South legislator Vanathi Srinivasan launched a program to distribute monthly free sanitary napkins to about 12,000 girls.

BJP national executive member in charge of Kerala C P Radhakrishnan hailed Modi as Karma yogi and distributed welfare aids to the needy at Tirupur.