“SAGAR SAMRIDDHI”

• The Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW) and Ayush Shri Sarbananda Sonowal has launched the ‘SAGAR SAMRIDDHI’ – online dredging monitoring system.

ABOUT SAGAR SAMRIDDHI

• The online dredging monitoring system shall accelerate the “Waste to Wealth” campaign of the MoPSW bringing in transparency & efficiency.
• The new system is in line with the Prime ministers’ vision of Zero Defect and Zero Effect to minimize human error.
• It is developed by National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts (NTCPWC) the technological arm of MoPSW.
• The new technology shall bring in marked improvement against the old system of Draft Loading Monitor system.
• The new systems shall be used in the major ports to bring about significant change in project implementation and bring down cost of dredging through use of dredged materials. This shall help in environment sustainability and bring down operational costs and improve transparency and efficiency.

CAPABILITIES OF ‘SAGAR SAMRIDDHI’ INCLUDE:

1. Real time dredging progress report
2. Daily and monthly progress Visualisation
3. Dredger performance and downtime monitoring
4. Easy location track data with snapshot of loading, unloading and idle time

ABOUT DREDGING:

• It is the act of removing silt, sediments, debris and other material from the bottom of lakes, rivers, harbors and other water bodies.
• It is a routine necessity that is essential to maintain and increase the depth of navigation channels, anchorages or berthing areas to ensure the safe passage of boots and ships.
• The water bodies have a tendency of sedimentation, the natural process of sand and silt washing downstream that gradually fills channels and harbors.

IMPLEMENTATION:

• At present, the Cochin Port (Kochi, Kerala) and Mumbai Port Mumbai, Maharashtra), have adopted the Sagar Samriddhi system.
• The New Mangalore Port (Mangaluru, Karnataka) and Deendayal Port (Kutch, Gujarat) it is running the system on a trial basis.
• The MoPSW has mandated all Major Ports and Inland Waterways Authority of India (lWAl) to monitor the dredging activity through this system with customisation from NTCPWC.

ABOUT NTCPWC

• National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts (NTCPWC) was set up as an incubation centre at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM), Chennai during 2018.
• It was established under the Sagarmala Programme of MoPSW with the total investment of ₹ 77 Crores at IIT Madras.
• The aim of the centre is to enable research & development for the marine sector, enabling solutions towards achieving the ultimate goal of building a robust marine industry in the country.
• It functions as the technological arm of the Ministry of Shipping and provides scientific support to ports, IWAI, and other institutions.
• This state-of-the-art centre has world class capabilities for undertaking the 2D & 3D investigations of research and consultancy nature for the Port, Coastal, and Waterways sector.