(a) whether the Government proposes to develop inland waterways for cargo movement and transport shipping purpose;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the measures taken by the Government to develop inland waterways?
(a) whether the Government proposes to develop inland waterways for cargo movement and transport shipping purpose;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the measures taken by the Government to develop inland waterways?
(a) to (c) Yes, Sir. To promote inland water transport in the country as an economical, environment friendly supplementary mode of transport to rail and road, 111 inland waterways (including 5 National Waterways declared earlier) were declared as ‘National Waterways’ under the National Waterways Act, 2016. The details of works initiated on the National Waterways by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) are at Annex.
Annex
(i) National Waterway (NW)-1 (Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system from Allahabad to Haldia), NW-2 (River Brahmaputra from Dhubri to Sadiya), NW-3 (West Coast Canal from Kottapuram to Kollam along with Udyogmandal and Champakara Canals) have already been developed with fairway navigational aids, jetties and terminals with mechanized equipment handling facilities for loading and unloading of cargo. These NWs are operational and vessels are plying on them. In addition, NW-10 (River Amba), NW-68 (River Mandovi), NW-73 (River Narmada), NW-83 (Rajpuri Creek), NW-85 (Revadanda Creek-Kundalika River System), NW-91 (Shastri river-Jaigad creek system), NW-97 (Sunderbans Waterways), NW-100 (River Tapi) and NW-111 (River Zuari) are also operational.
(ii) IWAI is implementing the Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) at an estimated cost of Rs. 5369.18 crore for capacity augmentation of navigation on the Haldia-Varanasi stretch of NW-1 with the technical and financial assistance of the World Bank. Projects worth Rs. 1800 crore (approx.) have commenced on ground in a time period of three years after statutory clearances.
(iii) Fairway development works in Vijayawada-Muktyala stretch of River Krishna (Part of NW-4) has commenced at a cost of Rs. 96 crore.
(iv) Based on the outcome of techno-economic feasibility and Detailed Project Reports (DPRs), technical interventions are planned for safe navigation and shipping on technically viable NWs. As per the DPRs completed so far for the new NWs, 20 NWs have been found to be technically viable and development activities have been initiated on 8 viable NWs viz. NW-9, NW-16, NW-27, NW-37, NW-68, NW-86, NW-97, NW-111.
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