The
Vice President Shri Venkaiah Naidu will lay the foundation stone for the
development of Muktyala to Vijayawada stretch of Krishna River (National
Waterways – 4) tomorrow in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. He will also inaugurate
approximately 415 km of National Highways projects worth Rs 1928.46 crores and
lay the foundation stone for another 250 km NH projects worth Rs 2539.08
crores. The Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water
Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Nitin Gadkari and
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Shri N Chandrababu Naidu will also be present on
this occasion.
As per MoU signed with Govt. of
Andhra Pradesh on 14th April,2016, NW-4 in Andhra Pradesh is
proposed to be developed in three phases
·
Phase-I: -Muktyala to Vijayawada
(Krishna River) (82 Km)
·
Phase-II: -Vijayawada to Kakinada (Eluru
canal & Kakinada canal) and Rajahmundry to Polavaram stretch of Godavari
(233 Km)
·
Phase-III: -Commamur Canal, Buckingham
canal and balance stretches of Krishna & Godavari Rivers (573km)
The Vice President will lay the foundation stone for
Phase- I on 3rd October, 2017. Work on this phase that is
development of the 82 km from Muktiyala to Vijayawada stretch has
already commenced. Dredging began in the shallow areas in May this year, and
the work is expected to be complete by June, 2019. The project will provide an
efficient logistics solution to boost the economic growth of the region and
facilitate the development of the capital city Amravati during its early
development stage as substantial construction material is expected to be
transported on this stretch of NW-4.
For Temporary Terminal Facilities
was awarded in August this year and is expected to be complete by June 2018.
For the Permanent Terminal Facilities work is expected to be awarded by March,
2018 and work to be completed by June, 2019. Night Navigational aids to be
taken up in 2018. Three cargo terminals are proposed to be built at
Muktyala, Ibrahimpatnam, and Harishchandrapur and four Passenger Terminals are
to be built at Durga Ghat, Bhawani Island, Vedadari, and Amravati on NW- 4 in
phase 1. The DPR for construction of these seven terminals has been completed.
National Waterway No.4 was declared
in November, 2008 for a total length of 1078 km. This length was extended to
2890 km by NW Act-2016. The following stretches are included in this :
a)
River Godavari (Bhadrachalam to
Rajahmundry) = 171 km
b)
River Krishna (Wazirabad to Vijayawada) =
157 km
c)
Kakinada Canal (Kakinada to Rajahmundry) =
50 km
d)
Eluru Canal (Rajahmundry to Vijayawada) =
139 Km
e)
Commamur Canal (Vijayawada to
Pedaganjam) = 113 km
f)
North Buckingham Canal (Pedaganjam to
Chennai) = 316 km
g)
South Buckingham Canal (Chennai to Merkanam) =
110 km
h)
Kaluvelly Tank (Markanam to Puducherry) =
22 km
Extended
sections
a.
River Krishna from Wazirabad to Galagali
(628 Km)
b.
River Godavari from Bhadrachalam to
Nasik (1184Km)
A proposal for Phase-II has been
recommended by IWAI board for PIB/Cabinet. Also, a proposal for formation of
Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for implementation of the project is under
consideration for the approval of Cabinet. The SPV is expected to be formed by
November 2017.
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NP/MS