Sri Vijaya Puram, Sept. 18: Rising traffic congestion, high freight costs, delays in essential commodity movement and gaps in air, maritime and inter-island connectivity emerged as key concerns at a stakeholder workshop held to prepare a City Logistics Plan (CLP) for Sri Vijaya Puram.
The one-day Kick Off and Stakeholder Orientation Workshop was organised by the Directorate of Industries in collaboration with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and GIZ. Representatives from government departments, agencies and other stakeholders discussed the city’s logistics constraints, infrastructure gaps and requirements for a comprehensive planning framework.
Director of Industries Ambika Ratnoo, Director of the Logistics Division at DPIIT Yashasvi Mund, GIZ Programme Director Raghu Babu and Deputy Director (Industries) Sunitha Kumari delivered the opening remarks. The workshop introduced the CLP, its alignment with the National Logistics Policy and its potential benefits for the islands.
Participants identified the concentration of cargo, passenger and tourist movement within the city as a key source of traffic congestion. They also pointed to the absence of dedicated freight corridors and logistics hubs, inadequate warehousing facilities outside urban areas, limited air and maritime connectivity and high freight costs.
Stakeholders further raised concerns over delays in essential commodity supplies, e-commerce deliveries and inter-island transportation. They called for more streamlined truck movement, improved public transport, dedicated loading and unloading areas, better use of airport and port infrastructure and stronger mainland and inter-island connectivity.
The discussions also highlighted the need to develop logistics infrastructure outside city limits to help reduce congestion within the urban area. Concerns raised by participating departments included road congestion, growing tourism demand, supply-chain reliability, reverse logistics and transportation costs.
Officials from Transport, Police, Tourism, Revenue, Fisheries, Civil Supplies, Disaster Management, Health, Labour, APWD and the Port Management Board provided sector-specific inputs and outlined their expectations from the CLP.
A Data Mapping and Action Planning Exercise formed a key part of the workshop. Participating departments identified datasets required for preparing the plan, covering land use, transportation networks, ports, warehouses, industrial estates, vehicle registrations, passenger flows, fisheries, health infrastructure, disaster management facilities, supply-chain assets and other socio-economic indicators.
The exercise helped establish a Data Ownership Matrix and improve coordination among departments for the next stages of the planning process. The workshop concluded with discussions on feedback, queries and the way forward for preparing the CLP.
Participating departments reaffirmed their commitment to the planning process, which is intended to improve connectivity and supply-chain efficiency, reduce logistics costs and congestion, and support sustainable economic growth across the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
