The Shipping Ministry of India has said that since inception of Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) in October 1986, projects worth Rs. 1871.567 crore (cr.) for development of National Waterways (NWs) have been implemented till March, 2016.
The major sub-projects under the Jal Marg Vikas project (NW–I: River Ganga) are being implemented after the approval by the competent authority. These include construction of multi-modal terminals, jetties, RIS, channel marking, navigational lock, river training and conservancy works etc.
After declaration of 106 new NWs under the National Waterways Act, 2016, the process for preparation of two-stage DPR study has been initiated. As per feasibility reports completed so far for the 106 new NWs, it has been decided to undertake development of 32 NWs in the next three years.
The Government has approved raising of Rs 1000 crore as Extra Budgetary Resour
At present, the details of various ongoing major projects for development of NWs are as follows:
- National Waterway – 1 :
(i) Construction of Phase-I (A) of the multimodal Inland Water Transport (IWT) terminal at Varanasi.
(ii) Construction of Phase-I of the multimodal IWT terminal at Sahibganj.
(iii) Construction of a new navigational lock at Farakka.
(iv) River Conservancy Works at Haldia: Comprising of fairway development, navigational aids and O&M of terminals River Information Systems, RIS stations, O&M of Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) and removal of hard strata in the Ghazipur-Varanasi stretch.
(v) Mechmarine works.
- National Waterway -2 : River Conservancy works comprising of fairway development, navigational aids, O & M of floating terminals, construction of slipway and bank protection.
- National Waterway -4 : Fairway development in the Vijayawada to Muktyala stretch.
- National Waterway -5 : Dredging between Erada and Padanipal stretch, EIA /EMP Studies and construction of floating terminal facilities.
- 106 New National Waterways: Techno–economic feasibility studies and Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the 106 new National Waterways
Source: Ministry of Shipping
Wish the details of the works in progress is given wide publicity in electronic and print media on quarterly basis, with some highlight photos and videos. General population of India is totally ignorant of the national plan, its significance, and it’s status of implementation.