VIZAGAPATAM
The authoritative account of the difficulties involved and the remedies for them is the report on Vizagapatam Harbour Investigations written by Mr. A. T. Mackenzie of the Public Works department in 1899 at the close of a year's special work on the subject. He considers that the bar and the sea-bottom outside it change but little from year to year; that the currents outside the bar are so variable and of so low a velocity as to affect the position but slightly; that the range of tide is small (generally under five feet and much less on an average) so that the scour from the backwater cannot be expected to do much to keep the bar open; that this scour has been diminished by the reclamations made and attempted in the backwater; and that the sand on the bar is brought by the south-west, and partly denuded by the north-east, monsoon — so that the bar shallows daring the former and deepens during the latter. The conclusion he comes to is that a groin from the end of the Dolphin's Nose, running first eastwards and then north-eastwards, would stop the formation of the bar, which is produced by waves acting on sand from the south. The cost of the groin he estimates roughly at Rs. 1,000 per foot run, or 30 lakhs for 3,000 feet. The probability of the completion in the near future of the line from Vizianagram to Raipur has brought the proposals for a harbour into the field of practical politics, and the question of the action which should be taken is now under consideration.
The chief of the attempted reclamations in the swamp above referred to was undertaken by a Roman Catholic Bishop of Vizagapatam who obtained . ,000 acres of the swamp on certain conditions regarding the extent to be periodically reclaimed. Beyond the building of an embankment (now dilapidated) round this,nothing has been done in the way of reclamation; but the embankment restricts the area of the tidal gathering-ground and so lessens the daily scour across the bar. The railway line has a similar effect. 'The land which is now the municipal sewage farm was partly reclaimed by convict-labour between l872 and 1875. Ships used to be built there in former days. Loading and unloading at the port is now done by masúla boats from the north side of the river. A stone jetty and two cranes assist. Steamers anchor comparatively close to the shore in 6½ to 8 fathoms. In 1891 a landing and shipping fees committee was started under Act 111 of 1885. The trade of the port is referred to on p. 120. Native schooners, which used to be numerous, have been ousted by the steamers and the railway. The port office occupies the site of the old ice-house. Five European firms are represented at the place.
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