New Delhi, Sep 6 : The government today said it is in the process of declaring Barak river stretch in Assam as the sixth National Waterway and its steps to augment inland water transport (IWT) infrastructure has met with positive response from investors, including a Rs 650 crore commitment.
India has over 14,500 km of navigable waterways but so far only five of them have been declared as National Waterways.
"Inland Water Transport sector is widely recognised as a fuel efficient, cost effective and environment-friendly mode of transport...One more waterway that is Barak river from Lakhipur to Bhanga in Assam is in the process of declaration as the sixth National waterway (NW)," Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy told a Parliamentary panel today.
Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), mandated with the task of developing NWs was upgrading infrastructure at NWs --1, 2 and 3, which has resulted in resulted in positive response from investors, he said.
"An indication to this effect is the coal transportation project for NTPC's Farakka power plant for which a long-term cargo assurance has been provided by NTPC due to which private sector has come forward to invest about Rs 650 crore in infrastructure and barges," the Minister said.
Jindal ITF has been selected by NTPC for this purpose through an open competitive bidding process, he added.
Coal, food grains, fertilisers, cement, fly ash and containers are some of the major commodities identified for IWT mode, and efforts are being made to develop projects targetting specific movement of these commodities, he said.
He added that the IWAI is also exploring possibilities to develop commercially viable stretches of NW-4 & NW-5, declared in November 2008, under public private partnership (PPP) mode.
Listing other initiatives, Roy said commercial operation of roll on-roll off facility created jointly by IWAI and Kochi Port Trust to provide IWT connectivity for Vallarpadam International Container Tran-shipment Terminal, Kochi has
resulted in 200 containers movement per day.
Besides, he said that Ministry of Home Affairs,Department of Revenue, Ministry of Environment, Government of West Bengal and Bangladesh authorities have approved the proposal to use an alternative route bypassing Core Area of Sunderbans Tiger Reserve which will prevent poaching; illegal infiltration and facilitate enhanced vigil on Indo-Bangladesh border.
Roy also expressed concerns over neglect of waterways, saying the total expenditure on it was just over Rs 1,000 crore in about 25 years "is insignificant compared to the investment made for development of rail and road modes."
The existing five waterways in the country are the Ganga- Bhagirathi- Hooghly river system from Haldia to Allahabad; the Brahmaputra river from Dhubri to Sadiya; the West Coast Canal from Kollam to Kottapuram along with Godavari and Krishna rivers; and East Coast Canal along with Brahmani river and
Mahanadi delta.
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