[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In a major boost towards realising the country’s ambitious inland waterways project, the World Bank has approved a $ 375-million loan for capacity augmentation of National Waterway-1 (River Ganga) under Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP).
The government is developing NW-1 under JMVP from Haldia to Varanasi (1,390 km) with the technical and financial assistance of the World Bank at an estimated cost of Rs 5,369 crore. The project would enable commercial navigation of vessels with capacity of 1,500-2,000 DWT.
Under the project, there will be three multimodal terminals, one each at Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Sahibganj (Jharkhand) and Haldia (West Bengal), two intermodal terminals, at Kalughat and Ghazipur, a new navigation lock at Farakka, five Roll-on Roll-off (RoRo) terminals, development of ferry services at Varanasi, Patna, Bhagalpur, Munger, Kolkata and Haldia, and vessel repair and maintenance facilities.
While the contracts for construction of multimodal terminals at Varanasi, Sahibganj, and a new navigation lock at Farakka have been awarded, and the work at respective sites has commenced, the construction of the multimodal terminal at Haldia will begin soon. The foundation stone for the multimodal terminal at Sahibganj was laid by the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, on April 6, 2017. In August 2016, the Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Mr Nitin Gadkari, had laid the foundation stone for the multimodal terminal at Varanasi.
Jal Marg Vikas Project also includes a proposal for Performance Based Maintenance Dredging Contract for Provision of Least Assured Depth (LAD) of 3 metres between Farakka and Kahalgaon, and Sultanganj and Barh; LAD of 2.5 metres between Barh and Doriganj, and Doriganj and Ghazipur; and LAD of 2.2 metres between Ghazipur and Varanasi.
In addition, the project will enable IWAI to set up River Information Service System on NW-1 for the first time in India. River Information System (RIS) encompasses equipment, hardware and software information technology (IT)-related services designed to optimise traffic and transport processes in inland navigation[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
