National Waterways of India

Inland Waterways Authority of India (Hindi: भारतीया अंतर्देशीय जलमार्ग प्राधिकरण) (IWAI) was created by Indian Government on 27 October 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.

Operator: Central Inland Water Transport Corporation (CIWTC)

National Waterway 1

 Allahabad–Haldia stretch of the Ganges–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

 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

 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

 Kakinada–Pondicherry 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

 It was declared a National Waterway on 24 November 2008 under the Provisions of National Waterways Bill, 2006. It is being developed by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and is scheduled for completion in 2013.

National Waterway 5

 Talcher–Dhamra stretch of the Brahmani River, the Geonkhali - Charbatia stretch of the East Coast Canal, the Charbatia–Dhamra stretch of Matai river and the Mangalgadi - Paradip stretch of the Mahanadi River Delta.

 Established = November 2008

 Length = 623 km

National Waterway 6

 Lakhipur to Bhanga of river Barak.

 Proposed

 Length = 121 km

Development of NW-4, 5 & 6

As early as 1993-95, IWAI commenced studies for developing an integrated canal linking Kakinada and Chennai. The Indian government initiated the process for developing three more national waterways in 2005.[5] In July 2006, T. R. Baalu, the Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways announced the proposal for development of NW-4 in the Lok Sabha.[6] In addition to the three existing national waterways, the government also declared the following inland waterways as national waterways:

 Kakinada-Pondicherry canals along with Godavari and Krishna rivers (1,095 kilometres (680 mi)) as NW-4

 East Coast Canal along with Brahmani river and Mahanadi delta (623 kilometres (387 mi)) as NW-5

 River Barak (152 kilometres (94 mi)) as NW-6

The proposals were made into law with the passage of the Inland Vessels (Amendment) Bill, 2005 in 2007.[7] In October 2008, another bill - the National waterways Bill, 2006 - was passed in Parliament. It declared the Kakinada-Pondicherry stretch of canals comprising the Kakinada canal, Eluru canal, Commamur canal, Buckingham canal, the Kaluvelly tank, Bhadrachalam- Rajahmundry stretch of riversGodavari, Wazirabad-Vijayawada stretch of river Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, TamilNadu, andPondicherry as national waterways.[8] According to this bill, it will take five years and   542 crores (5.42 Billion) (in 2002 prices) for the completion of the proposed new national waterways.