Rs 4,200-Cr Jal Marg Vikas project on…

0

 

The ‘Jal Marg Vikas’ (National Waterway-1) project, which envisages developing a fairway between 1,620 km Allahabad and Haldia stretch, has taken off with a $3.5 million funding from the World Bank.

“The Jal Marg Vikas Project on River Ganga has now taken off with the World Bank extending a project preparation fund (PPF) of $3.5 million … as advance, which is part of its financial assistance for the project,” Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has said.

‘Jal Marg Vikas’ (National Waterway-1) project, which envisages developing a fairway between 1,620km Allahabad and Haldia stretch, has taken off with a $3.5 million funding from the World Bank.

“The Jal Marg Vikas Project on river Ganga is rpogressing with the World Bank extending a project preparation fund (PPF) of $3.5 million … as advance, which is part of its financial assistance for the project,” Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has said.

Three consultancy firms of international repute have been engaged and have commenced work to conduct different consultancy studies.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced a project on Ganga called ‘Jal Marg Vikas’ (National Waterway-1) to be developed between Allahabad and Haldia covering a distance of 1,620km at an estimated cost of Rs 4,200 crore, to be completed in six years.

The central government designated the IWAI as the implementing agency, with a Project Management Unit (PMU), for the Jal Marg Vikas Project.

 

National Waterway-1 (NW-1) is a waterway passing through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, potentially serving the major cities of Haldia, Howrah, Kolkata, Bhagalpur, Patna, Ghazipur, Varanasi, Allahabad and their industrial hinterlands including several industries located along the Ganga basin.

 

The development of NW-1 would result in a viable supplementary mode of transport and huge quantities of bulk cargo can be transported thereby helping in economic development of this region, the spokesperson added.

 

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between IWAI and the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) in March 2015 for creation of logistics hubs with rail connectivity at Varanasi and other places on the National Waterways.

 

As per the MoU, IWAI and DFCCIL will collaborate for the project and also facilitate business development in the hinterland and its feeder routes.
The Union Cabinet  approved the transfer of 14.86 hectares of land from Farakka Barrage Project under the Ministry of Water Resources to Inland Waterways Authority of India.

The cost of the land in question is Rs 2.35 crore and the Inland Waterways Authority of India will bear this cost.

Construction of the navigational lock is a subproject ofJal Marg Vikas Project. The works shall be planned/ executed in such a manner that the existing arrangements about sharing of Ganga water at Farakka, as per Ganga Water Treaty-1996between India and Bangladesh, are not affected .

With the existing lock unable to efficiently handle the number of vessels passing through it, considerable time is taken for vessels to pass the lock. Therefore, a need was felt for construction of an additional lock to facilitate easy passage of vessels.

A look into Farakka Barrage project: Farakka Barrage is a barrage across the Ganges River, located in the Indian state of West Bengal, roughly 16.5 kilometres  from the border with Bangladesh near Chapai Nawabganj District. Construction was started in 1961 and completed in 1975 at a cost of ₹156.49 crore (US$23 million).

The purpose of the barrage is to divert 1,100 cubic metres per second (40,000 cu ft/s) of water from the Ganges to the Hooghly River for flushing out the sediment deposition from the Kolkata harbour without the need of regular mechanical dredging.

The Barrage serves water to the Farakka Super Thermal Power Station. There are also sixty small canals which can divert some water to other destinations for drinking purposes etc.

Inland Waterways Authority of India  was created by Government of India 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.

 

Leave A Reply