1. Eco-Friendly Concrete Solutions for the Protection of Marine and Coastal Infrastructure: Coastal InfrastructureThe adverse effect that human activity is having on the planet is becoming more apparent each day. Ecological damage is one of the most pressing issues that world leaders and companies seek to address at the moment. Finding sustainable solutions for marine and coastal infrastructure is one issue that is of particular concern to governments and companies worldwide. Luckily, there are companies providing these solutions at the moment, and one of them is ECOncrete. It is estimated that around 40% of the world's population lives within 100 km of a coastline, and this is predicted to grow further over the coming years. Three billion people worldwide rely on marine and coastal ecosystems for food, building materials, and agricultural and recreation areas. This leaves a significant and growing proportion of humans vulnerable to intensifying climate-change-related extreme weather events, rising[...]

Air pollution in India is a growing health issue and environmental problem. Some of the most polluted cities in the world, are found in India, where millions of people breathe air that often exceeds the World Health Organisation air quality guidelines for human health and social wellbeing. Of the world's most polluted 30 cities, 22 are in India, according to research by IQ AirVisual, a Swiss-based group that gathers air-quality data globally, and Greenpeace.It has been estimated that more than 51% of the air pollution is generated from industrial processes, with the other significant pollutant emitter being motor vehicles, particularly in urban areas.  India’s poor air quality contributes to the premature deaths of many people every year, and significantly impacts the Indian economy. Unless action is taken the situation will deteriorate further. The current situation is not sustainable.Greater control and audit of India’s industrial processes is required to ensure they adhere to[...]

1. The silent rise of India’s private ports In August 2020, Karan Adani, chief executive officer of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) and scion to the Adani group, informed stock analysts on an earnings call that his flagship port—Mundra, in the gulf of Kutch—had become the busiest port in the country. After nipping at the heels of its closest competitor for container traffic, JNPT (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust) at Navi Mumbai, for the last few years, Mundra finally pulled ahead in the first quarter of FY21, staging a faster recovery from the covid slump than the central government controlled JNPT could. Since then, Mundra has repeated this feat every subsequent month, consistently widening the gap in container volumes between itself and JNPT. At the end of FY21, 7.22 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units, a measure of container cargo capacity) had passed through Mundra, 16% higher than the previous year.[...]

The best way to assess the growth of a city is to pursue a holistic approach that evaluates multiple factors, including its urbanisation level, social fabric, environmental health, and economic growth including the scope and breadth of its community welfare efforts. So naturally, future growth opportunities depend on the ability of decision-makers to optimally harness all these elements. Smart Cities in India are being developed by the Smart Cities Mission under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India. As there is no universal definition of a “Smart City”, each city and country comes up with their own definition, meaning and goals. However, what is universally accepted is that a Smart City is a holistic ecosystem of various communities. India’s Smart Cities and the City Challenge India has identified 100 cities that have the potential to be transformed into Smart cities, under the umbrella of a contest called “City[...]

Report on Grounding of M.V. Ever Given in the Suez Canal: Version 1 On 23rd March 2021, the world watched in bemusement (and some amusement!) as a 400m-long, 220,000-tonne ship, the Ever Given, became wedged diagonally across the Suez Canal. The incident, which blocked the Suez Canal for six days, led to a “traffic jam” of ships in both directions, and consequently affected the 12% of global trade which passes through the 193-km canal that links Asia and Europe.The ship ran aground after its visibility was affected due to high winds and a sandstorm. However, industry experts and the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) suggest that technical and human errors may also be a contributing factor.In this report, we analyse some of the causes of the incident, and also highlight its implications and lessons learned. This document has been compiled from information available in the public domain, viz. newspaper reports, online newsletters,[...]

1. Current fiscal 'most challenging' for Indian Railways: Piyush GoyalDuring the lockdown, all services of the railways had come to a grinding halt andeven now, only special trains are plying Acknowledging that this fiscal was the "most challenging" for Indian Railways, Minister Piyush Goyal said it was time torewrite the future of the national transporter as "self-sustaining, punctual, green and first choice of business". At a review meeting with Railway Board members and general managers of zonal railways, Goyal said in the future, the success of Indian Railways would define the success of the nation.Source: Business Standard2. China to add 30 civil airports, more railways and highways in 5 yearsTo meet its 14th Five-Year Plan goals, China plans to construct 30 civil airports, 3,000 kilometers of railways, as well as 25,000 kilometers of highways in the next five years, shaping a strong domestic transport network by 2050, said the Chinese vice[...]

This year, from 4th March to 10th March 2021, India celebrated 50th National Safety Week.The theme of this year’s event was Learn from Disaster and Prepare for a Safer Future.Since 4th March 1972, National Safety Day has marked the establishment of the National Safety Council (NSC), headquartered in Belapur, Maharashtra. The NSC is a Public Trust entrusted with the responsibility of spreading safety awareness among the people of India.This year marked the 50th Birth Anniversary of this landmark organisation that has made a tangible difference in improving India’s safety posture.“Safety work is today recognised as an economic necessity. It is the study of the right way to do things." – Robert W. Campbell, first president of the National Safety Council.Eka Infra also celebrated National Safety Week!From 4th to 10th March 2021, we commemorated this special occasion at two locations: Gopalpur Port, Odisha and our Head office at Andheri East, Mumbai. Our primary[...]

In any kind of organisation, regardless of its size, experience, sector or industry, its admin function plays a very significant role in ensuring smooth operations and streamlined processes. On a day-to- day basis, routine tasks can pile up without admin staff to handle them and ensure they are completed as per requirement. Also, for every department, delivering quality output on time and within constraints like scope and budget can take the company to new heights of success. And this is one of the many key areas where admin plays a critical supporting role. An administrator is also a very important link between various departments, helping to improve collaboration and deliver more powerful outcomes. Moreover, admin staff are often the first people outsiders such as prospective customers, vendors, business collaborators, etc. speak with. This makes them important gate-keepers and brand stewards for the company. All in all, it is very difficult to[...]

Seafarers have always been engaged in a dangerous profession and though much progress has been made in this age of satellite technology, many of the risks remain and incidents still frequently occur on the high seas and in the approaches to ports. Just in the last few weeks we have seen four major casualties. Historically shipping has been a high-risk enterprise with many ships being lost close to port. One of the greatest risks that ship owners, seafarers, charterers or even a port operator takes is that of a navigation incident leading to a major casualty. Incidents come in many forms: collisions, groundings, anchors dragging etc. The industry needs to reflect further, how is it that ships with advanced navigation systems and sophisticated communication technologies still find themselves involved in groundings, collisions and other incidents? Planned, periodic and snap audits have a place in reducing the number of such incidents through[...]

Workforce constitutes any enterprise’s most valuable asset especially in the infrastructure sector. The growth and development of any firm is hence based on the development of the workforce as it is technical and technology driven at the management level. Understanding their workforce from the perspective of an asset and intelligence defines the base strength of any enterprise. Development of any employee is contributed by various factors like the social, physical, and work life upliftment with ample focus on basic technical know-how and data management. Focusing on the upliftment of work life of any employee, we must understand that he/she should have the urge to develop critical thinking and scientific temper. These skills enable the employee to handle the competition/ challenges and simultaneously to overcome his/her limitations. All such skills are rooted in two simple words, “reskill” and “upskill”. Reskill is to face the challenges and to learn skills completely different from[...]

COVID-19 pandemic has changed the nature and way trade will evolve. The effect on trade is already noticeable. A supply shock as China closed its factories was noticed with container ships sailing from China being blanked (suspended). As this shock lessened a demand shock started with shops across Asia, Europe, and the US closing their doors. Economists are comparing the lockdowns with the financial crises of 2008-2009 and the great depression of the 1930’s. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has predicted that world trade is going to fall between 13 to 32%. The global institutions are trying their best to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the world economy. Many countries are focusing their efforts on restarting their businesses and protecting their vital and essential supplies during this and future pandemics. Policymakers are already turning their minds to seek long- term lessons from the pandemic. They have looked deeply into[...]

It seems like yesterday when our mornings started with school; evenings were occupied with outdoor activities and the day ended with completing our homework’s! Indeed, they were typical school days. Currently, we find ourselves struggling to comprehend the new world. A world where pandemics have potential to cause a wreck. New infectious diseases are emerging and causing havoc. Do you feel that spending 24 hours indoors has come out as a new challenge? As days passed boredom strikes and as the saying goes, “an empty mind is the devil’s house”. But in my case the emptiness gave me the inspiration and potential to learn and explore new things. As I was very fond of animals and the facts revolving around them; it gave me immense joy to spread the knowledge. YOUTUBE was an ultimate platform to showcase and spread the gathered facts about scientific stuff. In this way the present situation[...]

Established by the UN, World Environment day (5th June) , is celebrated to raise awareness on environment and mobilise action for environment protection. Eka Infra takes immense pleasure in doing there bit for promoting conservation. At Eka Infra, we invited our staff and their children to come forward and give in their inputs towards creating awareness about World Environment Day. Following this year’s theme of biodiversity, the team and their kids expressed their ideas in form of beautiful art on Biodiversity and Environment.

[The following questions raised by the dredging industry for clarification. The clarification of the author is based on his personal opinion and the same cannot be construed as legal or contractual reference. This series is meant only to share knowledge with the industry] 1. What is the effect of Covid-19 on the Dredging industry? No sector or industry except essential services remains unaffected by Covid-19. Port dredging work remains largely unaffected, unlike inland waterways, river dredging and dredging of closed water bodies that are largely affected. At many ports across the globe, work is uninterrupted. They have adopted precautions issued by their flag state authorities. Dredging work could have halted if the port had experienced complete lockdown by closing its navigational channel. However, globally it was observed that port dredging work, both maintenance and capital, remained fairly unaffected. This was because the port management cannot afford formation of a plume in[...]

India has been under a national lockdown except for essential services. We are entering the 42nd day of the lockdown as we draft this blog. Globally, most of the nations have declared lockdown which has resulted in jeopardizing the supply chain and logistics affecting domestic,international, multi- party contracts and cross border contracts. This effect could result in an unprecedented and an unforeseen potential surge in contractual disputes due to temporary suspension of performance under “Force Majeure”. This event explicitly provides what is beyond the reasonable control of the affected party or was not reasonably foreseen. It is essential to determine if Covid19 will qualify as a Force Majeure event. This will depend on the language of definitions adopted in the contract under the Force Majeure clause. The definitions, in the said clause, should be inclusive of an outbreak of diseases/pandemic to make Covid 19 qualify as a Force Majeure event. If Force[...]

A Short Guide to the FIDIC Contracts amid the Covid 19 Pandemic On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 crisis – a pandemic that is time-dependent and geography-independent – as a “public health emergency of international concern”. , This statement followed by the declaration of national lockdowns by several federal and state-level Governments all over the world have jeopardised thousands of commercial contracts in almost every industry. In general, contracts could be governed by well-drafted FIDIC clauses. They could also be based on any standard international format. Alternately, contracts could be completely ‘bespoke’, i.e. tailored to fit the specific requirements of a particular project. This article focuses on FIDIC contracts and the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on these particular types of contracts. Bespoke contracts, governed by Section 56 of The Indian Contract Act, 1872, are beyond the scope of this article. Almost all FIDIC contracts contain[...]

Business Continuity Strategies in a post-COVID World In a little over 4 months, COVID 19, the disease caused by the novel Coronavirus has become a serious international public health concern. To minimise its effects on the health and mortality of their citizens, many countries have declared national lockdowns, a difficult choice that has led to a virtual standstill of economic, business, and social activity. As of 18th May 2020, India had been in lockdown for almost over 56 days. Since the beginning of the lockdown declaration, the Narendra Modi-led Government has periodically reviewed the situation to determine if and when lockdown conditions can be relaxed to allow businesses to commence their operations. However, following expert analyses on the economic impact of COVID19 by organisations such as the World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asian Development Bank (ADB), it is evident that the current slowdown will remain the ‘new normal’[...]

The “free world”, typified by the US and UK, initially prioritized business over public health and are now paying the price. Even though there are passenger flights, including repatriation flights, still arriving at UK airports, I do not know whether strict health screening and quarantine measures are in place now, or whether the authorities are still relying on people being “honourable” about undertaking self-quarantine and volunteering information on their movements to facilitate contact tracing. The public health situation in the UK today is dire, with up to 900 people dying of the virus daily, and that is just the number of people testing positive who died in hospitals. Many more are dying in residential care homes and at home, most of which are thought to be due to the virus. If the infection and death rate curves in the UK population of approx. 65 million are replicated in India’s 1.3 billion[...]

Often, pandemic outbreaks – whether completely of unforeseen or reasonably- anticipated – are geographically-independent and experienced by only a few regions or countries. They also tend to be time-dependent, working themselves out – usually due to the availability of a cure or the development of ‘herd mentality’ – after a certain period of time has elapsed. The COVID-19 pandemic is an exception to both these general rules of history due to its geography- and time-agnostic trajectory. With dozens of countries declaring national lockdowns and emergencies, several areas of citizenship as we know it have been affected – from political and legal to medical, educational, and even social. In this blog, we focus on the pandemic’s effect on commercial life, specifically on contracts and their non-performance in the present economic and human crisis. In particular, we analyse the significance and impact of the COVID-19 crisis on commercial contracts with respect to Employer,[...]

Outbreak of unforeseen and or reasonably anticipated Pandemic swept industries both manufacturing and services alike, affecting the performance of contracts of former heavily than the later. Pandemic is characterized as time dependent but geographically independent, however due to prevalence, the time dependent resulted to be longer than anticipated. With developing and developed nations declaring lockdown and emergency, non-performance of contracts due to impossibility gains significant importance. Notwithstanding many Nations declared pandemic as “Force Majeure”, it is reasonably foreseen that dispute between parties and litigation shall linearly increase. Therefore in the present economic / human crisis, we analyze, the significance and impacts on commercial contract. Commercial Contracts reiterate that impossibility of performance of the contract works by a contractor will not, in general, relive him from liability in damages for breach of performance, save and except under exemptions. If, however the impossibility to perform his contract arises from a cause that neither[...]

It is like Dedicated Freight Corridor, Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor, and Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) have been announced over the last decade or so, many of these have still a long way to go towards reaching their finishing point due to various reasons.   Since the past several years, we as a country have learned many valuable lessons while conceiving and implementing such large-scale infrastructure projects. In the process, we have identified several underlying factors for both successes and failures, particularly those related to policy, marketing and the level of preparedness for future market conditions and technologies. However, identifying these factors is no longer enough. Learning the right lessons from them is even more critical to ensure the development of a conducive, sustainable environment for steady, unhampered growth of the infrastructure sector in India. Traditionally, it has always been the responsibility of the Government of India (GoI) to provide infrastructure services[...]

Karnataka is a globally renowned knowledge hub, home to the largest number of R&D centres, technical and medical institutions, and start-ups in India. A pleasant climate, cosmopolitan culture and investor-friendly business ecosystem make Karnataka one of the most sought-after investment destinations in the country. Moreover, the government’s highly responsive administrative apparatus has been extremely proactive in simplifying and improving the state’s business landscape. Karnataka is geared to attract and absorb new investments across multiple sectors over the coming few years. On 14th February 2020, the government of Karnataka hosted the Invest Karnataka – Hubballi Conference, the first-ever investors’ meet held in Karnataka outside Bengaluru. Inaugurated by Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, the main goal of this meet was to attract investors and reputed companies who could help develop North Karnataka as a leading destination for business investments. Another goal was to collaborate with business leaders, thought leaders, research institutions, think tanks and[...]

All structural engineering consultants know that cement, the primary ingredient in concrete, is not only an extremely important construction material for infrastructure development in particular, but also a key to economic growth in general. The strength, durability and other characteristic of concrete depends on the properties of its ingredients, proportion of mix, method of compaction and other controls during placing and curing. The production of cement is an energy-intensive process, resulting in the emission of greenhouse gases which adversely impacts the environment. Moreover, from a financial perspective, the cost of producing cement is increasing at an alarming rate, and the natural resources that provide the raw material for cement manufacturing are exhausting – two facts that really worry international engineering consultants. For both these reasons and more, the use of industrial by-products having cementitious properties as a replacement for cement in cement concrete has become the need of the hour in the global construction[...]

The Government of India is focused on boosting the performance of the country’s logistics sector. One effective way of doing this is of course leveraging the country’s 7,500 km-long coastline, 14,500 km of potentially navigable waterways and the multiple strategic locations that are already present along key international maritime trade routes. In keeping with this ambition, the ‘Sagarmala’ project was envisioned and initiated. The project, launched in 2015, aims to accelerate port-led infrastructure development in the country. Along the way, it expects to create 1 crore new jobs (including 40 lakh direct jobs) over the next 10 years. The project has a unique approach in that it that integrates various projects that are usually stand-alone. These projects cover port connectivity, freight expressways, new pipelines for transporting crude and petroleum products, inland waterways, multi-modal logistics hubs and coastal community development. The Sagarmala programme seeks to unlock the huge potential inherent in India’s waterways and[...]

During a recent conference, Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman revealed that in a span of 4 months, she and her task force had held 70 meetings with various stakeholders engaged in various sectors. Following these meetings, her task force has identified a number of National Infrastructure Projects worth Rs. 102 lakh crores. She further stated that in the coming few weeks, another 3 lakh crore-worth projects are expected to be added to this list. This means that there are a total of 105 lakh crore-worth of projects in the pipeline. Out of these, the government has already made a commitment for 100 lakh crores . These projects under the aegis of 22 ministries spread across 18 states and union territories, will surely serve as one of the key drivers of economic growth in the country, and enable the government to meet its ambition of transforming India into a $5 trillion economy[...]

Back in the 19th and 20th centuries, civil engineering infrastructure designed and built in India was based on the then-prevalent state of technical knowledge and general practices of British professionals.  Thanks to their simple and robust construction, and the use of good quality, naturally available materials, these structures have required relatively lower maintenance effort over time, especially when compared to modern structures.  Evidence shows that some of these “old” structures including, PWD road bridges, railway bridges and dams have stood the test of time for over 100 years. In fact, we use many of these structures even today!  It would not be incorrect to say that these structures were frequently “over-designed”, which was definitely not a bad thing in the ‘lower cost, lower competition’ world of yore. As the latter half of the 20th century ushered in advances in construction materials, building technology and analytical design tools, it led to the erection of[...]

A storm surge is the abnormal rise of the water levels near the coast or near large lakes. The onset of a storm surge is not sudden. Therefore, with existing tools of prediction, prior warnings can be made available to the people residing near the coastline so they can make appropriate preparations. A storm surge should not be confused for a tsunami. Storm surges happen frequently and are basically the effect of tropical cyclones, hurricanes or typhoons. They are caused due to high winds and pressure, and occur right along the coastlines. History is witness to the major impacts caused by storm surges around the globe. In fact, they can be life-threatening to the people and infrastructure along the coastline, though not always. Tsunamis, on the other hand, happen less frequently, originate from earthquakes or seismologic activity, and can reach thousands of miles. They also bring with them much more loss of life and[...]

Ports are the gateways for global trade and are critical to a nation’s economy. As well as being hubs for economic activity; they are also a potential sources of air pollution from ships, vehicle emissions, material handling (i.e. dust), etc. The close proximity of many ports to populated areas only further exasperates their potential impact on human health and the environment. Inevitably, ports are now becoming a focus for air pollution control and environmental management measures for those air pollutants generated by their activities e.g. carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx), and particulate matter (PM: PM10, PM2.5, PM1.0), etc. The health effects of prolonged exposure to these pollutants may include respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disease, lung cancer and even premature death. Air quality and emissions to air from shipping vessels and port activity has long been a recognised health and environmental problem. Indeed, it has[...]

The Shore Zone (SZ), roughly falling at the intersection of marine, terrestrial and lower atmosphere, is uniquely characterized by different species, habitats and ecosystems. With each swash and backwash that alter and mould the shape and appearance of the SZ steadily and constantly, is otherwise environmentally fragile and highly sensitive. SZ is roughly at the middle part of Coastal Zone (CZ), is sandwiched between the Coastal Land Zone (CLZ) on the landside and the shelf zone on the seaside. The SZ, a domain of CZ, plays a very significant role in the social and economic sectors of a country and India, with a 7517km long shoreline (5423km mainland coastline and 2094km offshore islands) is no exception. Why manage the coast? Post WWII, anthropogenic activities, such as urbanization, industrialization, transportation to name a few; in the CLZ tended to sharply increase the pressure on the living and nonliving resources of the CZ. Global[...]

Ports around the world are critical logistics centres for their host countries. Nearly 90% of the world’s cargo is transported by sea with more than half of that being containerised cargo.  According to the Ministry of Shipping (India), around 95 per cent of India’s international trade by volume and 70 per cent by value is moved by some form of maritime transport. The volume of Indian trade handled by its ports is expected to reach 1,695 million metric tonnes by 2021-22, according to a report of the National Transport Development Policy Committee. To keep up with the ever-growing demand (global and domestic), ports, and the supporting logistics industry must modernize and digitalize.  They must adjust to the world of tomorrow. This means expansion, modernization and automation of their infrastructure and services, they must change into being SMART ports.  A SMART port takes advantage of a range of technologies to enable services[...]