Vizhinjam port project gets a new deadline
The Hindu
First phase will be completed in 2023, Devarkovil says after meeting AVPPL officials
The first phase of the multi-crore Vizhinjam international seaport project will be completed and commissioned in 2023, the Minister for Ports Ahammad Devarkovil said on Thursday after holding talks with officials of the Adani Vizhinjam Port Pvt. Ltd. (AVPPL).
The Minister came out with a new deadline even as the Ahmedabad-based Adani Group sought a five-year extension (till 2024) for completing the ₹7,525-crore port project which had overshot the original December 3, 2019, target date.
Earlier requests by the AVPPL for extensions citing force majeure situations had been declined by the government. Subsequently, arbitration proceedings commenced earlier this year and the AVPPL had placed its claims before the three-member tribunal.
The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.