The government on Monday said that a contract has been awarded for the Haldia inland waterway terminal and the jetty will be operational soon for sending Exim and inland cargo to Pandu terminal in Guwahati connecting the Northeast with Kolkata via the National Waterway 2. This will provide an alternative to the Chicken Neck route for easy and cost effective movement of cargo to and from the Northeast to foreign countries and to other states of India.
The Chicken Neck route refers to the Siliguri Corridor, a narrow strip of land, which links the Northeast with the rest of India.
Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal interacted with various stakeholders of the port and shipping industry of Kolkata and Haldia port.
Major oil PSUs, steel companies like Tata steel and SAIL, terminal operators, shipping lines, barge operators, custom clearing agents and land users of Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port participated in the meeting, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said in a statement.
The minister invited all of them to be a partner in this unique opportunity of using sea and river route combination (National Waterway 1 and National Waterway 2) via Kolkata port.
Sonowal also informed that the depth assurance contract has been awarded to maintain the National Waterway 1 and the National Waterway 2, and the barge operators shall soon start using these waterways as depths are assured.
The minister also said that there is a plan to provide guarantees to banks to give easy and soft funds for barges so that this sector can take-off.
The stakeholders assured that they will come forward to utilise this opportunity to make this mission a success. More than 40 key players participated in the stakeholders’ conference.
Source : Economic Times
