Development of Inland Waterways : Financial Support and Status
The Government has got a budget allocation of Rs. 228.00 crore for the development of Inland waterways transport, which also includes Rs. 126.00 crore for North Eastern Region, for the year 2017-18. The proposal for raising Extra Budgetary Resources (EBRs) of Rs. 1,000 crore through bonds was approved by Ministry of Finance in 2016-17. Out of Rs 1000 crore, Rs. 340.00 crore was raised during 2016-17. Remaining amount of Rs 660.00 crore has been raised in the Financial Year 2017-18.
Out of 111 National Waterways declared by the Government through the National Waterways Act, 2016, National Waterway-1 (Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system from Allahabad to Haldia), National Waterway-2 (River Brahmaputra from Dhubri to Sadiya) & National Waterway-3 (West Coast Canal from Kottapuram to Kollam along with Udyogmandal and Champakara Canals) are already operational.
In addition, in National Waterway-4 (Kakinada- Puducherry canals along with Godavari to Krishna rivers) fairway development works in Vijayawada – Muktyala stretch of river Krishna have commenced under the Phase-I. Work for installation of floating terminals at four locations has commenced.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between Inland Waterway Authority of India (IWAI), Govt. of Odisha, Paradip Port Trust and Dhamra Port Company Ltd. for the development of NW-5 (East Coast Canal integrated with Brahmani river and Mahanadi delta rivers).
As per the feasibility reports completed so far, 36 new NWs have been found technically viable. Out of these 36 NWs, developmental activities have been initiated on 8 most viable NWs in 2017-18. List of these 8 NWs is as follows-
| Name of the Waterway | Status |
| Proposal for development at a cost of Rs. 76.01 crore has been approved for phase -1 of NW-16 from Silchar to Bhanga. Maintenance dredging for fairway development work in Silchar-Bhanga stretch has commenced. Consultant has been engaged for the upgradation of terminals at Badarpur, Karimganj and new floating terminal at Silchar. |
| Proposal for development at a cost of Rs. 12.91 crore has been approved on 02.06.2017 and fairway maintenance work has commenced. |
Waterways in Goa
| A proposal for the development of NWs in Goa at an estimated cost of Rs. 22.65 crore has been approved on 02.06.2017. Work is proposed to be executed through Government of Goa with the assistance of Mormugao Port Trust. A Tripartite MoU is expected to be signed for the commencement of works. |
| 6. Alappuzha – Kottayam – Athirampuzha Canal (NW-9) : | Proposal for development of the waterway at an estimated cost of Rs.1.60 crore has been approved on 02.06.2017. Tendering for night navigation facilities has been completed. Dredging is taken up departmentally. |
| 7. River Rupnarayan (NW-86) | Proposal for development of the waterway at an estimated cost of Rs. 24.00 crore has been approved on 02.06.2017. Work has been awarded for setting up of floating terminal. |
| 8. Sunderbans Waterways (NW-97) | Proposal for the development of waterway at an estimated cost of Rs. 18.10 crore has been sanctioned on 10.08.2017. Tender for dredging and floating terminals are in advanced stages. |
India has an extensive network of inland waterways in the form of rivers, canals, backwaters and creeks. The total navigable length is 14,500 km, out of which about 5200 km of the river and 4000 km of canals can be used by mechanised crafts. Freight transportation by waterways is highly under-utilised in India compared to other large countries and geographic areas like the United States, China and the European Union. The total cargo moved (in tonne kilometres) by the inland waterway was just 0.1% of the total inland traffic in India, compared to the 21% figure for United States. Cargo transportation in an organised manner is confined to a few waterways in Goa, West Bengal, Assam, and Kerala. Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the statutory authority in charge of the waterways in India.[1] Its headquarters is located in Noida, UP. It does the function of building the necessary infrastructure in these waterways, surveying the economic feasibility of new projects and also administration. On 31st August 2018, IWAI made 13 standardised state-of-art design public for the transportation of cargo and passengers keeping in mind Ganges complex river morphology, hydraulics, acute bends, currents etc. in National Waterway – 1. The first implementation will be between Varanasi-Haldia stretch in assistance and investment from World Bank.