Development of Inland Waterways
Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is responsible for regulation and development of National Waterways in the country for shipping and navigation. So far the following five waterways have been declared as National Waterways (NW).
(i) Ganga –Bhagirathi- Hooghly river system (Allahabad-Haldia-1620 km)-NW-1, declared in 1986.
(ii) River Brahmaputra (Dhubri – Sadiya -891 Km) –NW-2 declared in 1988.
(iii) West Coast Canal (Kottapuram – Kollam) along with Udyogmandal and Champakara Canals– (205 km) – NW-3 declared in 1993.
(iv) Kakinada-Puducherry canals along with Godavari and Krishna rivers (1078km)-NW-4 declared in 2008.
(v) East Coast Canal integrated with Brahmani river and Mahanadi delta rivers (588 km) – NW-5 declared in 2008.
Action has been taken by IWAI for providing a navigable channel with adequate width and depth along with necessary infrastructure facilities like terminals and navigation aids in the first three National Waterways. Action has been initiated to develop commercially viable stretches of NW-4 and 5 under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode through financial assistance of Asian Development Bank under the Pilot Project Initiative through Department of Economic Affairs.
The above information was given by the Minister of State for Shipping, Shri Mukul Roy in the Rajya Sabha today in a written reply to a question.
MG/AS – PQ3 – usq 2591