Inland Waterways: Bill on 101 National Waterways to be in Parliament this session: Gadkari …

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Bill on 101 National Waterways to be in Parliament this session: Gadkari   Economictimes.indiatimes.com
9 Apr, 2015
NEW DELHI: The Bill to declare 101 rivers into National Waterways (NWs) would be introduced in the current session of Parliament, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said today. …

Development of Inland Waterways in the Country
Dec 06, 2013
The Union Government undertakes development and regulation of only those waterways which are declared as National Waterways. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha the Minister of Shipping Shri G.K. Vasan said that it is the responsibility of the respective State Governments to develop any other waterways. Waterways that are being developed as National Waterways (NWs) presently are:
(1) Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system (Allahabad-Haldia-1620 km) in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal as NW-1, declared in 1986.
(2)  River Brahmaputra (Dhubri-Sadiya-891 km) in the state of Assam as NW-2 declared in 1988.
(3) West Coast Canal (Kottapuram-Kollam) along with Udyogmandal and Champakara Canals – (205 km) in the state of Kerala as NW-3 declared in 1993.
(4)  Kakinada-Puducherry Canals along with Godavari and Krishna rivers (1078 km) – in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Puducherry as NW-4 declared in 2008.
(5) East Coast Canal integrated with Brahmani river and Mahanadi delta rivers (588 km) in the states of West Bengal and Odisha as NW-5 declared in 2008.
The minister said that the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is developing the first three National Waterways for shipping and navigation by providing a navigational channel with targeted depth & width for most part of the year. These are provided with aids for day and night navigation, fixed/floating terminals at selected locations for berthing and loading/unloading of vessels and intermodal connectivity at a few selected locations.  For development of National Waterway-4 and 5, IWAI has explored the feasibility of developing commercially viable stretches under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode with Viability Gap Funding (VGF). Inland Water Transport is economically cheaper compared to road and rail and is environment friendly and suitable for bulk cargo.  A project of transportation of 3 million tonne per annum of imported coal for 7 years from Haldia (Sandheads) to NTPC’s Power Plant at Farakka through National Waterway-1 is already under implementation, Shri Vasan added.  IWAI has also identified more such projects which, inter-alia, includes transportation of coal for NTPC’s Power Plant at Barh (near Patna), transportation of coal from NTPC’s Power Plant at Bongaigoan (Near Jogighopa on National Waterway-2), transportation of fertilizers on NW-1 and transportation of food grains from Kolkata to Tripura through Indo-Bangladesh Protocol routes.  Cargo movement in National Waterways include fly ash from Kolkata to Bangladesh, over dimensional cargo and other general cargo.  River cruises too have been in operation on National Waterway-1, 2 & 3, the minister informed the house.
(Courtesy: pib press release)

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The National Waterway (Lakhipur – Bhanga stretch of the Barak River) Bill, 2013
March 22, 2013
The National Waterway (Lakhipur – Bhanga stretch of the Barak River) Bill, 2013 was introduced in the Rajyasabha today by the Union Minister for Shipping Shri G.K. Vasan. The bill proposes to declare the navigable stretch of the Barak River between Lakhipur and Bhanga (121 km) in Southern Assam as a National Waterway. The bill also provides for the regulation and development of the proposed waterway by the Union government for the purpose of shipping and navigation through the Inland Waterway Authority of India. It also envisages the development of infrastructure projects at an estimated cost of 123 crore rupees in two phases. The first phase of the project will be completed by 2016-17 followed by the second phase which is likely to be completed by 2018-19. Infrastructure facilities currently available on this stretch of the river are inadequate for safe, convenient and sustained shipping and navigation by large mechanised craft. The enactment of this bill will lead to improved connectivity and transportation of cargo in the north eastern region particularly the states of Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. It will also provide an alternative connectivity to these states which are presently dependent on the rail/road connectivity through the chicken’s neck at Siliguri. The Government has accorded high priority to the development of inland water transport in the country as it provides a low cost, energy-efficient and environment friendly medium of transport. So far, five waterways have been declared as National waterways. These are:
1) Allahabad- Haldia stretch of the River Ganga,
2) Dhubri –Sadiya stretch of River Brahmaputra,
3) Kottappuram – Kollam stretch in the west coast canal along with Udyogamandal and Champakkara canal, in Kerala
4) Kakinada – Puducherry stretch along with the designated stretches of Godavari and Krishna rivers, and
5) Designated stretches of East coast canal, Brahmani river and the Mahanadi delta. [Photo: Cargo Movement
(Courtesy: IWAI website)]

‘National Waterways exemplify government’s neglect of the sector’ ET News
Feb 18, 2013
Last Thursday’s approval of the Union Cabinet to introduce a Bill in the Parliament for declaring Lakhipur-Bhanga stretch (121 kms) of the Barak River as a National Waterway was a much delayed gesture and the delay, for many, exemplifies the attention the sector gets from the authorities, over the years. “Since 9th Five Year Plan onwards we have been talking about this and similar declaration of waterways at Sundarbans and extension of National Waterways from Kollam to Kasargod in Kerala,” pointed out an operator in the coastal waters of western India. …

Government Forms a Committee to Scale Up PPP Mode in Inland Waterways Sector
New Delhi, July 18, 2012

A Committee has been constituted to scale up private investment in Inland Waterways Sector under the Secretary, Planning Commission. The Secretary, Ministry of Shipping, DG of Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and a representative of Department of Economic Affairs will be the members. This Committee would undertake a systematic effort to identify new areas for private investment, both in infrastructure and in transportation. It will also identify multiple business models which could then be bid out through concessions. This will be supplemented by designing Model Concession Agreements (MCA) and other standardised documents for facilitating a rapid scaling up of investment.

The committee will assess the investment potential of the sector and come up with approaches and proposals for scaling up private investment in Inland Waterways. It will also suggest mechanisms to have standardised MCAs prepared quickly for possible areas of investment.

Since January, PMO has identified and fast-tracked implementation of key projects in the National Waterways – 1, 2 and 3 (NW – 1,2,3). These are the Varanasi- Haldia stretch of the Ganga (NW-1), the Brahmaputra in Assam (NW-2) and the inland stretch in Kerala (NW-3). IWAI has since moved forward on large scale private investments to transport coal and fertilizer on NW-1, foodgrains and coal on NW-2 and a lot of cargo on NW-3.

The development and regulation of the waterways which are declared as National Waterways are under the purview of Central Government, while the other waterways remain under the purview of the respective State Governments. The Government has been taking various steps to develop Inland Water Transport (IWT) which, inter-alia, includes ensuring targeted depth and width in the navigational channels, aids for day and night navigation, fixed/floating terminals at specified locations for berthing and loading/unloading of vessels and intermodal connectivity at select locations. Besides these, Central Government also provides 100 per cent Grants-in-aid to the States in the North-Eastern Region for development of IWT.

As per the Report prepared by RITES Ltd. in the year 2009 titled “Total Transport System study on Traffic Flows & Modal Costs”, the share of Inland Water Transport (IWT) in the total domestic transport during 2007-08 was 0.24 % compared to 50.12 % for the road and 36.06 per cent for the rail sector in terms of tonne km.

Geonkhali-Charbatia stretch of East Coast Canal (217 km), Charbatia- Dhamra stretch of Matai River (39 km) , Talcher- Dhamra stretch of Brahmani- Kharsua- Dhamra River system (265 km) along with Mangalgadi- Paradeep stretch of Mahanadi delta Rivers ( 67 km) having a total length of 588 km. in the States of West Bengal and Odisha have been declared as National Waterway (NW-5) w.e.f. 25th November, 2008. Out of total length of 588 km., about 497 km. of NW-5 is in the State of Odisha. The efforts to develop more commercially viable stretches of NW-5 under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode with Viability Gap Funding (VGF) under India Infrastructure Project Development Fund (IIPDF) and PPP Pilot Project Initiative under the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Technical Assistance are in process. Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) has appointed a Transaction Advisor in this regard.
(Courtesy: pib press release)

PMO pushes for greater private investment in Inland Waterways
New Delhi, July 16, 2012

The PMO has been pushing for greater private investment in inland waterways, an area of considerable importance.

Since January, PMO has identified and fast-tracked implementation of key projects in the National Waterways – 1, 2 and 3 (NW – 1,2,3). These are the Varanasi- Haldia stretch of the Ganga (NW-1), the Brahmaputra in Assam (NW-2) and the inland stretch in Kerala (NW-3). Based on the push by PMO, IWAI has moved forward on large scale private investments to transport coal and fertilizer on NW-1, foodgrains and coal on NW-2 and a lot of cargo on NW-3.

In order to scale up private investment further, a Committee has now been constituted a Committee under Secretary (Planning) with Secretary (Shipping), DG (IWAI) and a representative of DEA as members. This Committee would undertake a systematic effort to identify new areas for private investment, both in infrastructure and in transportation. It will also identify multiple business models which could then be bid out through concessions. This will be supplemented by designing Model Concession Agreements and other standardised documents for facilitating a rapid scaling up of investment.

The committee will assess the investment potential of the sector and come up with approaches and proposals for scaling up private investment in Inland Waterways. It will also suggest mechanisms to have standardised MCAs prepared quickly for possible areas of investment.

The potential of Inland Waterways is quite large, if it can be properly conceived and captured. The Rhine and the Danube are lifelines of transport in Europe. And there is no reason why the Allahabad – Haldia stretch (National Waterway – 1) cannot be a river based industrial corridor.
(Courtesy: pib press release)

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