Commercial navigation on National Waterway-1 to commence on Friday

The centre will take the first major step in development of inland water transport system with the minister for shipping, road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari flagging off the first two cargo vessels on National Waterway-1 and laying the foundation stone for a multi-modal terminal at Ramnagar in Varanasi on Friday.

The minister will flag off the trial run of two cargo vessels - MV Joy Basudev (capacity 1,400 tonnes) and MV VV Giri (capacity 300 tonnes) - from Varanasi's Aghoreshwar Bhagwan Ram Ghat to Haldia in Bengal.

The first vessel, MV Joy Basudev, will carry newly assembled cars of Maruti Suzuki while the second vessel MV VV Giri will carry construction material.

Afcons Infrastructure Ltd has been entrusted with the job of constructing Phase I of the multi-modal terminal at Varanasi, at an estimated cost of Rs170 crore. Completion of Phase 1 is expected by August 2018.

The terminal will have road and rail connectivity with proposed links to NH-7 and Jeonathpur Railway station, respectively.

The terminal, on completion of Phase 1, will have an estimated cargo handling capacity of 1.2 million metric tonnes per annum (MTPA). It will handle various cargo, including stone chips, cement, foodgrains, fertilisers, sugar etc.

The terminal will have space for berthing two vessels simultaneously, storage area, transit shed, parking areas, among others. There will also be a floating jetty for passenger transportation.

National Waterway-1 (NW-1) is being developied under the Jal Marg Vikas Project, with assistance from the World Bank at an estimated cost of Rs4,200 crore. The project would enable commercial navigation of vessels with capacity of 1,500-2,000 DWT from Varanasi to Haldia.

Phase-I of the project covers the Haldia-Varanasi stretch. The project includes development of fairway, construction of new multi-modal terminals at Varanasi, Haldia, and Sahibganj, strengthening of open river navigation system, conservancy works, modern 'river information system' (RIS), 'digital global positioning system' (DGPS), night navigation facilities, modern methods of channel marking, construction of a new state-of-the-art navigational lock at Farakka etc.

NW-1 is a waterway of national significance 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 rail and road corridors of this region are already saturated.

The development of NW-1 would result in a viable economical, efficient and eco-friendly mode of transport and huge quantities of cargo can be transported thereby helping in economic development of this region, the shipping ministry said.