Kolkata, Sept 22 (PTI) Kolkata Port, or Syama Prasad Mookherjee Port has appointed Rodic Consultant to carry out a techno-feasibility study for a tunnel under Hooghly river connecting Kolkata and Howrah cities, its top official said.

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The proposed tunnel if constructed will be the second such tunnel and downstream of the one by East West Metro Railway, which is the first of its kind in the country, he said.

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The proposed tunnel will help the cargo loaded trucks of the port to move swiftly without hindrance from Khidirpur dock area and decongest the city's roads as well, the port chairman Vinit Kumar said on Wednesday.

"We have awarded the techno-feasibility study to Rodic Consultants. The project includes a road tunnel and a connecting bridge to the national highways," Kumar said at the inauguration of the Exim Facilitation Cell of Merchants' Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Wednesday.

The report is expected in 7-8 months and may entail an investment of Rs 2000 crore, he said.

On the developments being carried out at the Kolkata Port, he said night navigation facility will be installed soon to boost inland waterways cargo movement on National Waterways 1, which runs between Prayagraj to Haldia in West Bengal.

Kumar said the port is moving toward handing over berth management to the private sector and the modernisation of berths will attract an investment of Rs 3000 crore.

The port has already handed over a berth at Haldia to the Adani group which will invest nearly Rs 300 crore. One liquid handling terminal and a portion of a dock in Kolkata has also been handed over to it and will see an investment of Rs 350 crore.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)