The proposed second major port in Andhra Pradesh at Duggarajupatnam has been opposed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) since the beginning. Isro opposed the port proposal at at Duggarajupatnam because of its close proximity to the space centre or spaceport at Sriharikota.
Hence, the recently increased activity at the Satish Dhawan Space Research Centre at Sriharikota may cast a shadow on the second major port proposed at Duggarajupatnam, say media reports. Even the Andhra Pradesh government had also preferred Ramayapatnam for the port location, instead of Duggarajupatnam.
Tirupati MP Chinta Mohan, however, put pressure on the Prime MinisterÂ’s Office and got the location changed to Duggarajupatnam.
Isro has announced that it will launch 14 vehicles every year from Sriharikota. This will mean suspending port operations for at least three days every month. At a high-level meeting convened by former infrastructure principal secretary Jayesh Ranjan, it was decided that port operations should be suspended two days in advance of the launching of space vehicles and on the day of the launch.
Hence the viability of the project will be in question if operations are frequently disrupted, the officials stated, pointing to the change of the proposed major port’s venue.
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