A
total of 111 waterways have been declared as National Waterways under the
National Waterways Act, 2016.
Some of the major
initiatives to develop the National Waterways recently are as under:
i)
To strengthen navigation capacity and promote transportation of cargo
and passengers on National Waterway-1, on the Haldia-Varanasi stretch of Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly
River System, the Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) has been taken up for
development with technical and investment support of the World Bank at an
estimated cost of Rs.5369 crore.
ii)
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed by India and
Bangladesh for dredging in the Sirajganj - Daikhowa and Ashuganj-Zakiganj
stretches on the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route in Bangladesh by sharing the
cost of dredging between India and Bangladesh in the ratio 80:20. The
implementation of the MoU would facilitate critical connectivity between
National Waterway-1 (River Ganga) and National Waterway-2 (River Brahmaputra).
iii)
On NW-2 (River Brahmaputra), Roll on – Roll off (Ro-Ro) services have commenced
between Dhubri and Hatsingimari, reducing the circuitous road route of about
220 km via Jogighopa to reach Hatsingimari.
iv)
Construction of Slipway at Pandu in Assam is on, with December, 2018 as the
target date of completion. This will be the first dry dock repair facility in
the NE Region. Presently, the vessels plying on NW-2 need to sail to Kolkata
for dry dock repairs and maintenance.
v)
On NW-4, Phase-I development of the stretch between Muktyala to Vijayawada
(82 kms) has commenced. This will provide an efficient logistics solution to
boost the economic growth of the region and facilitate the development of Amravati,
the new capital city of Andhra Pradesh as substantial construction material is
expected to be transported on this stretch of NW-4.
This
information was given by Minister of State for Shipping and Road Transport and
Highways Shri Pon. Radhakrishnan in a written reply to a question in the Lok
Sabha today.
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NP/MS