All you need to know about National Waterway-1 & multi-modal terminal

Prime minister Modi inaugurated the multi-modal terminal at Varanasi on Nov 12 and received the first container vessel called MV Rabindranath Tagore, post independence on National Waterway-1. The Prime Minister was accompanied by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari in Varanasi

First vessel that made the journey

Cargo belonging to food and beverage company PepsiCo was transported through 16 containers equivalent to 16 truckloads of food and snacks from Kolkata to Varanasi. It became the first company to use inland waterways for container movement. Modi received the cargo transported on inland waterways from Kolkata at the multi-modal terminal in Varanasi. It is the first of the 4 multi-modal terminals being constructed on the waterway.

The significance of National Waterway-1

The 1620 km long inland water transport route runs between Haldia in West Bengal and Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. The inland waterways is supposed to be a cheaper and more environment-friendly means of transport for large cargo. It has an added advantage due to its location as it passes through Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, serving major cities and their industrial hubs

The terminal was constructed as part of Centre's Jal Marg Vikas project which aims to develop the stretch of the Ganga between Varanasi and Haldia for transportation. The vessels used on this stretch can weigh up to 1500 to 2000 tonnes. The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) implemented the project. Also present on the occasion of the inauguration was PepsiCo India President and CEO Ahmed El-Sheikh, seen here with Road Transport and Highways minister Nitin Gatkari

Funding

The estimated cost of the project is Rs 5,369.18 crore which has been shared between the Indian government and the World Bank on 50:50 ratio.

Management of the project

The operation and management of the project will be carried out through a Public-Private partnership model. The operator has not yet been selected but is expected to be finalised by December.

India's waterways are highly underutilised. Although these are steps in the right direction, challenges remain. Night-time navigation, maintaining consistent water levels and infrastructure issues are some of the nagging problems that the country has to deal with. Ganges carries a very high silt load. Existence of pontoon bridges are an obstacle to navigation.