Inland Waterways Authority of India

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 river and 4000 km of canals can be used by mechanised crafts. Freight transportation by waterways is highly underutilised 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 kilometers) 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. 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 and regulation.

History

Inland Waterways Authority of India(Hindi: भारतीया अंतर्देशीय जलमार्ग प्राधिकरण) (IWAI) was created by Indian Government in October 27, 1986 for development and regulation of Inland Waterways for shipping and navigation. The Authority primarily undertakes projects for development and maintenance of Inland Waterway Terminal infrastructure on National Waterways through grant received from Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways. The head office is at Noida. The Authority also has its regional offices at Patna, Kolkata, Guwahati and Kochi and sub-offices at Allahabad, Varanasi, Bhagalpur, Farrakka and Kollam.

National Waterway 1

 National Waterway 1 (India)

Allahabad — Haldia stretch of the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system.

Estd = October 1986.

Length = 1620 km

Fixed terminals = Haldia, BISN (Kolkata), Pakur, Farrakka and Patna.

Floating terminals = Haldia, Kolkata, Diamond Harbour, Katwa, Tribeni, Baharampur, Jangipur, Bhagalpur, Semaria, Doriganj, Ballia, Ghazipur, Varanasi, Chunar and Allahabad.

National Waterway 2

National Waterway 2 (India)

Sadiya — Dhubri stretch of Brahmaputra river.

Estd = September 1982.

Length = 891 km

Fixed terminals = Pandu.

Floating terminals = Dhubri, Jogighopa, Tezpur, Silghat, Dibrugarh, Jamgurhi, Bogibil, Saikhowa and Sadiya

National Waterway 3

 National Waterway 3 (India)

Kottapuram-Kollam stretch of the West Coast Canal, Champakara Canal and Udyogmandal Canal.

Estd = February 1993

Length = 205 km

Fixed terminals = Aluva, Vaikom, Kayamkulam, Kottappuram, Maradu, Cherthala, Thrikkunnapuzha, Kollam and Alappuzha.

Floating terminals =

National Waterway 4

 National Waterway 4 (India)

Kakinada - Puducherry stretch of Canals and the Kaluvelly Tank, Bhadrachalam – Rajahmundry stretch of River Godavari and Wazirabad – Vijayawada stretch of River Krishna.

Estd = November 2008

Length = 1095 km

National Waterway 5

 National Waterway 5 (India)

Talcher- Dhamra stretch of river Brahmani, Geonkhali- Charbatia stretch of East Coast Canal, Charbatia- Dhamra stretch of Matai river and Mangalgadi – Paradip stretch of Mahanadi delta rivers.

Estd = November 2008

Length = 623 km

[edit]National Waterway 6

Main article: National Waterway 6 (India)

Lakhipur to Bhanga of river Barak.

Proposed

Length = 121 km

(source:wikipedia)