Panaji jetty pulls in Rs 3.8 crore, beats 47 other jetty’s revenue

PANAJI: The Goa government earned Rs 4.6 crore from the 47 jetties in the state but the lion’s share comes from the single Panaji jetty attached to the Captain of Ports (CoP) office. it contributes 82% of the total revenue earned by the department.
The jetty, which is largely used by off-shore casinos to ferry passengers and private river cruises, rakes in Rs 3.8 crore for the CoP.
The CoP jetty further upstream at Patto brings in a distant Rs 1 crore for the government. This jetty is used by the catamaran river cruise operators.
Of the 47 jetties, 14 are operational while 31 are temporarily closed, minister for ports Michael Lobo said in a submission before the state assembly.
The new 60m jetty which was built at a cost of Rs 16 crore with three berthing dolphins and commissioned in 2016 is not operational and has contributed no revenue to the state, the data shows.
Meanwhile, the government tried to allay fears about approvals for the under-construction CoP terminal building. Lobo said the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study was conducted for the proposed project to ascertain its impact on riverine ecology, bank morphology, physiography and bathymetry.
Experts have questioned the legality of permissions availed by the department for the Rs 28 crore project. Interestingly, the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) conducted the rapid EIA study in 2008, over a decade before work actually began.
Lobo said work on the Rs 28.6 crore boat-shaped CoP terminal building began on January 21 and is expected to be complete by July 2020.