The Minister of State for Shipping and Finance Shri Pon Radhakrishnan in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today informed that the Buckingham canal (258 km) along coastal Andhra Pradesh  is part of  National Waterway (NW)-4.  Development of NW-4 is considered in 3 phases as mentioned below:

• Phase-I: Vijayawada – Muktyala stretch of Krishna River:  Development of Phase-I works between Vijayawada-Muktyala stretch of Krishna River has been taken up at a total cost of Rs.96.00 crore out of which Rs.18.00 crore has been utilized so far.  This includes dredging and setting up of four floating terminals, land acquisition for construction of permanent terminal facilities at Ibrahimpatnam, Harischandrapuram and Muktyala.

 

• Phase-II:  Kakinada to Vijayawada and Rajahmundry to Polavaram:  Tendering process has been undertaken by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) for a comprehension hydrographic and navigation study for this.

 

• Phase-III:  Balance stretches of NW-4 including portion of Buckingham canal.   On completion of Phase-I and II the balance stretches of NW-4 are planned for development in Phase-III.   No funds have been allocated as yet for development of this stretch.     

 

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NP/MS

(Release ID: 1540281)