INFRASTRUCTURE : 111 WATERWAYS HAVE BEEN DECLARED NATIONAL WATERWAYS, INFORMS SARBANANDA SONOWAL

TTT NEWS NETWORK

NEW DELHI, 28 JULY 2023:

For development of Inland Water Transport (IWT) in the country, 111 waterways (including 5 existing and 106 new) spread over 24 States have been declared National Waterways (NWs) under the National Waterways Act, 2016. On the basis of outcome of techno-economic feasibility study and Detailed Project Report (DPR) of these NWs action plan has been formulated for 26 NWs which were found viable for cargo and passenger movement. At present, development initiatives have been taken up in the 20 NWs.

Major challenges for development of National Waterways include the varying and limited depths during lean season due to the excessive upstream withdrawal/utilization of water resulting in meandering and braiding of alluvial rivers, erosion of their banks causing excessive siltation, lack of cargo earmarked for IWT, non-mechanized navigation lock systems, insufficient unloading facility at terminals, horizontal and vertical clearance issues due to cross structures, first & last mile connectivity, lack of vessel financing options and apprehension of logistics and shipping market to shift in absence of policy support hinder the use of IWT by shippers.

There are 9 NWs exclusively in Karnataka & 3 inter-State NWs which have been declared under National Waterways Act, 2016. After feasibility/DPR studies of all these NWs, Kali river (NW-52), Sharavati river (NW-90) in Karnataka & Tungabhadra river (NW-104) in Karnataka, A.P. & Telangana have been found feasible for tourism & ferry services. Govt. has provided an amount of INR 2.7 crore for development of jetty infrastructure in Kali river (NW-52) through the State Government.

LIST OF 26 NATIONAL WATERWAYS (NWs) PROJECTS FOR DEVELOPMENT – 

STEPS TAKEN FOR GROWTH OF CARGO TRANSPORTATION ON WATERWAYS:

i. Fairway development works: Fairway development works to ensure LeastAvailable Depth (LAD) of 3.0 meter in Haldia-Barh, 2.5 meter in Barh-Ghazipur and2.2 meter in Ghazipur-Varanasi stretches on NW-1 have been taken up under the JalMarg Vikas Project (JMVP) which has been undertaken by IWAI with technical and financial assistance from World Bank. Similarly, to improve the connectivity between NW-1 and NW-2/NW-16 via the Indo Bangladesh protocol route, thecritical and shallow stretches between Sirajganj and Daikhowa on protocol routeNo1 & 2 and Ashuganj and Zakiganj on protocol rote no 3 &4 in Bangladesh arebeing jointly developed by India and Bangladesh for round the year navigability(with targeted LAD of 2.5 mtrs). Similarly, fairway development works have been taken up on NW-97 in Sunderbans to allow smooth navigation of vessels on theIndo-Bangladesh Protocol Route.

ii. Development of New National Waterways: IWAI has identified 26 new NWs through techno-economic feasibility studies forundertaking technical interventions to make the waterways navigable fortransportation purpose.

iii. Ro-Ro/Ro-Pax Service Commenced in Various National Waterways: The Operation of Ro-Ro / Ro-Pax vessels inaugurated by Hon’ble Prime Minsterduring February 2021 for the following routes:

iv. Revision of Levy & Collection of Fees:Taking ahead the vision of the Government of India to promote Inland Waterways as a supplementary mode of transport, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has considered waiver of waterway user charges initially for a period of three years.

DIGITAL SOLUTIONS FOR EASE-OF-DOING BUSINESS-

Following digital solution for ease of doing business has been introduced by IWAI:-

• CAR-D (Cargo Data) Portal
• PANI (Portal for Asset & Navigation Information)

ENHANCED REGIONAL TRADE USING IWT MODE-

a. Addition of new Ports of Call and routes in India and Bangladesh under PIWT&T: With 7 new ports of call in addition to existing 6 on each side along with addition/ extension of 2 waterway routes in addition to existing 8 routes under PIWT&T between India and Bangladesh, the accessibility of IWT mode for trade between India and Bangladesh is expected to increase and result in growth of traffic on NWs.

b. Trade between Bhutan and Bangladesh: Stone exporters from Bhutan have identified Inland waterways as an alternate mode of transportation considering the benefits associated with waterways mode such as lower transportation cost, larger shipment size compared to road, avoiding congestion on land routes etc.

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES (SOPS) FOR FACILITATING THE STAKEHOLDERS TO USE INLAND WATER TRANSPORT AND ACCESS THE VARIOUS INFORMATION RELATED TO NATIONAL WATERWAYS:

The list of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for various National Waterways is available at IWAI website.

STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS –

IWAI carried out stakeholder consultations at sixdifferent locations (Kolkata, Kochi, Mumbai, Patna, Goa and Dhaka) in FY-20, 9nos. during FY-21 and 06 nos.conference-cum-webinars in FY22 for cargopromotion.

• PM GatiShakti Multimodal Waterway Connectivity Summit held in Varanasi from 11^th-12^th November 2022.
• Flagging off of world’s longest river cruise and waterways development projects inaugurated and foundation stone was laid online by Prime Minister in the presence of  Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on 1^3th January 2023 at Varanasi.

This information was given by the Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Mr. Sarbananda Sonowal in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.