Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the Azhikkal port is central to the development of Kannur as the government pushes ahead with infrastructure plans in the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

Speaking at a district-level meeting held as part of the Left Democratic Front government’s fourth anniversary celebrations on Friday, the Chief Minister said administrative approval had been granted for the construction of a Customs warehouse at the port.

He said efforts were on to integrate road development linked to the port under the Centre’s Sagarmala project. “Azhikkal port is a priority for the government, and proper dredging is necessary to maintain adequate depth. The dredger previously used had to be diverted to Muthalakuzhi due to a special situation,” he noted. He said steps would be taken to resume dredging without delay.

While an electronic data entry system is yet to be operational at Azhikkal, Mr. Vijayan said customs-related activities could be handled through the system in Kozhikode for the time being. Plans were afoot to establish a similar facility at Azhikkal in the current fiscal, he said.