Bhubaneswar: Dhamara port will be functional in 2010, said Santosh Mohapatra, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dhamara Port Company (DPC) on Sunday. Mohapatra told reporters that the port's construction work had started from last year and the land acquisition work for its rail corridor was in the last stage of completion. 

Preparations to launch the surface work of the port have already been completed, and according to DPC's plan, the first phase work of the port would be completed within 2009, he said, adding that the ships would be handled from 2010.

The port's capacity would be 13 million tonnes at the first phase and it would be expanded to 25 million tonnes within three years, he said. The DPC has already completed documentation work for the banking organisations, which would finance for the port work.

Mohapatra further informed that the State Government, which is entrusted with the land acquisition work, would hand over all the 2,033 acres of land required for construction of Bhadrak-Dhamara rail line after the Kharif crop harvest. The DPC has already paid compensation for 1,100 acres of land. As for construction of bridges, he said that while the State Government had already called tenders for the road bridges, it was the task of the DPC to construct rail bridges. 

Meanwhile, a meeting was held in Bhubaneswar on Monday to review the progress of port work. Transport Minister Jay Narayan Mishra presided over the meeting, which was attended by Revenue Minister and local MLA Manmohan Samal, Bhadrak and Chandbali MLAs Naren Palei and Netrananda Mallik respectively, Priyabrata Patnaik Secretary, Commerce and Transport Department and Bhadrak ADM Prafulla Mohapatra.