Source: TNN
The surge in revenue has been due to various steps taken by the govt for overall revamping of the inland water transport sector through introduction of modernised vessels, modernising the existing vessels as well, director of IWT, Hanif Noorani told TOI on Tuesday.
There are around 89 notified water routes in the state, where passenger movement takes place. The three major divisions are Guwahati-North Guwahati which has three routes, Jorhat-Majuli which has two routes and Dhubri-South Salmara with one route.
According data provided by IWT for the financial year 2022-23, Guwahati-North Guwahati division received over 6,500 passenger footfall daily whereas Jorhat-Majuli and Dhubri-South Salamara divisions received 3,000 and 1,000 footfall respectively.
“In recent times, the surge in revenue has been witnessed due to various steps taken to modernise the river transport system. There are numerous factors which have contributed towards increasing the revenue earned by IWT which includes overall revamping of the inland water transport sector by incorporating modern vessels, improving the existing vessels both private and government ones. Also ensuring proper safety of the measures for the passengers, IWT has managed to earn their confidence for which they are opting for this mode of transportation,” said Noorani.
He added that installation of marine engines in wooden boats which has increased the safety of passengers, introduction of e-ticketing system, which have stopped “revenue leakage”, increasing ticket prices have also greatly contributed towards the high revenue generation.
The major chunk of the transportation through waterways in the state is mostly depended on only passenger movement, as there is not any long-distance cargo carrying routes in the state. Noorani said, “Although there might be possibilities of cargo transportation in future, that sector has not been explored yet. The transportation of goods within divisions, which covers a very short distance cannot be termed as cargo movement.” In September last year, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma launched 10 catamaran vessels with the capacity to carry 100 passengers and 50 motorcycles at one go, three tug boats and a search and rescue vessel with an attempt to establish IWT both as a service provider and as a source of generating revenue.
