The bucket-type grab hopper dredger of Karachi Port Trust''s (KPT) has reached Pasni and started dredging on Tuesday in the Pasni Fish Harbour (PFH) which had long been lying unused due to huge siltation.
The poor fishermen, who have long been in a state of disappointment as the fast decaying PFH was their only source of earning livelihood, warmly welcomed the KPT dredging staff, which is working for a "national cause" in Pasni.
"KPT''s bucket-type grab hopper dredger ''Amin-ud-Din'' reached Pasni on Monday," official sources in KPT told Business Recorder on Wednesday. Dredging Manager, Captain Aziz Rao is supervising the project, they said.
Karachi Port has undertaken the task of 0.3 million cubic metres dredging as a "national cause". The project would be completed in one year at an estimated expenditure of around Rs 45 million, sources said.
When asked if the work could be accelerated to complete the job earlier than stipulated time, sources said that 0.3 million cubic metres dredging without supporting equipment and environment was a big task. "We have slippery fine sand underwater at Pasni which is time-consuming. The dredging area is also big," they added.
They said that siltation, caused by last year''s cyclone, is so much that no fishing trawler can float into the PFH''s channel, and only small boats are able to reach the jetty. "The condition of the fish harbour is so bad that even in high tide no fishing trawler can enter the jetty," they added.