Kandla
Encyclopedia
Kandla is a seaport in Kutch District of Gujarat state in western India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. Located on the Gulf of Kutch
Gulf of Kutch
The Gulf of Kutch is an inlet of the Arabian Sea along the west coast of India, in the state of Gujarat, and renowned for extreme daily tides .The maximum depth of Gulf of Kutch is ....

, it is one of major ports on west coast. Kandla was constructed in the 1950s as the chief seaport serving western India, after the partition of India
Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...

 from Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 left the port of Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

 in Pakistan.

The Port of Kandla is located on the Gulf of Kutch on the northwestern coast of India some 256 nautical miles southeast of the Port of Karachi in Pakistan and over 430 nautical miles north-northwest of the Port of Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 (Bombay). Located some 90 kilometers from the mouth of the Gulf of Kachchh on the Kandla Creek, the Port of Kandla was opened as a natural deep-water harbor in the 1930s to serve the hinterland of and beyond the state of Gujarat.

The British Royal India Navy first appraised the Kandla stream in 1851 for suitability as a port; however, they did not conduct a detailed survey until 1922. The Port of Kandla was created in 1931 with a single pier. After Indian independence in the late 1940s, the new government selected the Port of Kandla as a promising outlet to the Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...

.

When the Port of Karachi was lost to Pakistan, maritime trade in the area shifted to the Port of Mumbai (formerly Bombay). Mumbai's facilities were soon strained beyond capacity. In early 1948, the Indian government created the West Coast Major Port Development Committee to study the feasibility of building a major seaport to replace the Port of Karachi that went to Pakistan during partitioning. The Committee recommended locating a port at Kandla.

In 1952, Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation stone for the new port on India's northwestern coast. The Port of Kandla was declared a major port in 1955. The Kandla Port Trust was created by law in 1963 to manage the new port.

The Port of Kandla Special Economic Zone (KASEZ) was the first special economic zone to be established in India and in Asia. Established in 1965, the Port of Kandla SEZ is the biggest multiple-product SEZ in the country. Covering over 310 hectares, the special economic zone is just nine kilometers from the Port of Kandla.
Today, the Port of Kandla is India's hub for exporting grains and importing oil. This self-sufficient port is one of the highest-earning ports in the country. Major imports entering the Port of Kandla are petroleum, chemicals, and iron and steel machinery, but it also handles salt, textiles, and grain.

Facilities

•Total Custom Bonded Port Area inside the custom fencing is 185 hectares. An additional 76.5 hectares is being developed shortly.

• Eleven Dry Cargo Berths in straight quay line in sheltered creek with a total length of 1987 meters.

• Six Oil jetties.

• One deep draft mooring & Four Cargo Moorings in the inner Harbor area for stream handling.

• Total Custom Bonded Port Area inside the custom fencing is 185 hectares. An additional 76.5 hectares is being developed shortly.

• Loading/Unloading facilities for barges available for stream handling.

• Seventy licensed private Barges available at competitive rates.

• Adequate storage capacities in both Dry and Liquid Areas.

• Standby Power to the extent of 2000 KV available for emergency operations.

• Well Developed Road Network directly connecting to National Highway and Railway Network connecting to the Broad Gauge Train Routes which is further being upgraded.

Cyclone of 1998

A tropical cyclone
Cyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale...

 hit the port in 1998. The official death toll was 1,000 but locals in the area believed it was closer to 10,000. Most of the casualties came from illegal immigrant workers in the port itself and poor shanty town
Shanty town
A shanty town is a slum settlement of impoverished people who live in improvised dwellings made from scrap materials: often plywood, corrugated metal and sheets of plastic...

s in the region. Although the cyclone was tracked by the Indian government for 3-4 nights no effort was made to warn port employees this catastrophe shows a failure of government and business ethics and a complete disregard for the life of the poor.

See also

  • Nagalpar
    Nagalpar
    Nagalpur or Nagalpar is a small village in Kutch district in the state of Gujarat, India. It comes under Anjar taluka.-History:About history of Nagalpar or Nagalpur it is one of the 19 villages established by Kutch Gurjar Kshatriyas or Mistris as they are known in Kutch...

  • Sinugra
    Sinugra
    Sinugra or Shinoogra or Sinogra or Sinougra is a village near the town of Anjar, the taluka of Kutch district in the Indian state of Gujarat. The village is located 7 km from the nearest city Anjar...

  • Pantiya
    Pantiya
    Pantiya is a village near the town Anjar, the taluka of Kutch district in the Indian state of Gujarat.This village is adopted by IFFCO Kandla.Village is located 10 KM from nearest town Anjar...

  • Khedoi
    Khedoi
    Khedoi is large village near the town Anjar and the taluka of Kutch district in the Indian state of Gujarat.Village is located 14 KM from nearest town Anjar.Village is again sub-divided into Nani-Khedoi and Moti-Khedoi...

  • Lovariya
    Lovariya
    Lovariya or Loharia or Lovaria is a village near the town Anjar, the taluka of Kutch district in the Indian state of Gujarat.-History:Lovariya is one of the 19 villages founded by Kutch Gurjar Kshatriyas or Mistris, as they are known in Kutch...

  • Chandiya
    Chandiya
    Chandiya or Chandia is a village near the town Anjar, the taluka of Kutch district in the Indian state of Gujarat.Village is located 18 km from nearest town Anjar.-History:...

  • Chandroda
    Chandroda
    Chandroda is a village near the town Anjar, the taluka of Kutch district in the Indian state of Gujarat.Village is located 22 KM from nearest town Anjar...

  • Mindiyana
    Mindiyana
    Mindiyana is a village near the town Anjar, the taluka of Kutch district in the Indian state of Gujarat.Village is located 8 KM from nearest town Anjar.-See also:* Nagalpar* Sinugra* Pantiya* Khedoi* Lovariya* Chandiya* Chandroda* Mindiyana* Shinai...

  • Shinai
    Shinai
    is a weapon used for practice and competition in kendo representing a Japanese sword. Shinai are also used in other martial arts, but may be styled differently from kendo shinai, and represented with different characters....

  • Adipur
    Adipur
    Adipur is a city in Kutch district in the state of Gujarat, India. The town is situated approximately from the Gulf of Kutch.-History:Adipur was originally founded as a refugee camp after the partition of India, in 1947, by the government of India. Its running was later passed onto a...

  • Gandhidham
    Gandhidham
    Gandhidham is a city and a municipality in the Kachchh District of Gujarat state of India. The town was created in the early 1950s for the resettlement of the refugees from Sindh of Pakistan in the aftermath of the partition of India....

  • Bhuj
    Bhuj
    Bhuj is a city and a municipality in Kachchh district in the state of Gujarat, India.-History:It was established by Rao Hamirji in 1510 and was made the state capital by Rao Khengarji I in 1549. Its foundation stone as state capital laid formally on Vikram Samvat 1604 Maagha 5th...

  • Anjar, India
    Anjar, India
    Anjar is a town and a municipality in Kutch district in the state of Gujarat, India. The country is dry and sandy, and entirely depends on well irrigation for its water supply. The town is situated nearly 10 miles from the Gulf of Kutch. The town was third time made capital of Kachchh on...

  • Mundra
    Mundra
    Mundra is a census town in Kutch district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Mundra Port is the largest private port in India.-Geography:The town of Mundra is located about 50 km from Anjar which is one of the major towns in the district of Kutch in Gujarat. The other important towns in this...

  • Ports in India
    Ports in India
    India has a long coastline, spanning 7600 kilometres, forming one of the biggest peninsulas in the world. It is serviced by 13 major ports and 187 notified minor and intermediate ports. The latest addition to major ports is Port Blair on June 2010, the 13th port in the country.Major ports handled...

  • Iffco Udayanagar
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