Lok Sabha Question No. 161 (STARRED), answered on 2017-07-27
Subject: Inland Waterways
Ministry: SHIPPING
Asked by: VIJAY KUMAR S.R., GAJANAN CHANDRAKANT KIRTIKAR

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SHIPPING

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO.161 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27 th JULY, 2017 INLAND WATERWAYS

- *161. SHRI S.R. VIJAYAKUMAR: SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

Will the Minister of SHIPPING be pleased to state:

- (a) the details and the present implementation status of the Inland Vessels (Prevention and Control of Pollution and Protection of Inland Water) Rules, 2016 in the country;
- (b) the details of the projects under execution for expeditious transportation of cargo and passengers and development of tourism through inland waterways across the country;
- (c) whether the Government has worked out a plan to encourage the use of waterways for being more economical, customer friendly and smooth movement of goods and passengers and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the steps proposed to be taken by the Government to boost shipping tourism in the country particularly from Mumbai to Elephanta Cave, Kolkata to Ganga Sagar and Dwarka Section; and
- (e) the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government for modernization of major Ports for easy and smooth movement of goods?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF SHIPPING (SHRI NITIN GADKARI)

(a)to(e):   A Statement is laid on the table of the House.

- (a):        Under  the  Inland  Vessels  Act,  1917,  the  Inland  Vessels  (Prevention  and Control of Pollution of Inland Water) Rules, 2016 were notified in July, 2016 and  laid  on  the  table  of  both  the  houses  of  Parliament.  These  rules  are implemented by the State Governments.
- (b): Some  of  the  important  projects  taken  up  for  expeditious  transportation  of cargo,  passengers  and  development  of  tourism  through  inland  waterways across the country are as under:-
- i) Construction  of  multi-modal  terminals  at  Varanasi,  Sahibganj  and Haldia; navigational lock at Farraka under the Jal Marg Vikas Project on  National  Waterway-I  to  enable  movement  of  inland  vessels  of 1500-2000 tonnes capacity.
- ii) Roll-on Roll-off (Ro-Ro) services between Dhubri and Hatsingimari on NW-2 (River Brahmaputra) was operationalized during 2016 to reduce the  circuitous  road  route  of  about  220  km  to  reach  Hatsingimarivia Jogighopa.
- iii) Construction of Slipway at Pandu (Assam) on NW-2 which will be the first dry dock repair facility in the NE Region.
- iv) On  National  Waterway  -3  (West  Coast  Canal  from  Kottapuram  to Kollam  along  with  Champakara&Udyogmandal  canal),  two  terminals at Bolghatty&Willingdon island have been made operational in Cochin Port Trust area  for container traffic of International  Container Transhipment Terminal at Vallarpadam  (ICTT) through Ro-Ro / Lowon Low-off (Lo-Lo) service.
- v) On NW-4, development of fairway between Muktyala to Vijayawada which  will  provide  an  efficient  logistics  solution  to  boost  economic growth of the region and facilitate the development of Amravati, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh as substantial construction material is expected to be transported on this stretch.
- vi) A  number  of  projects  under  SagarmalaProgramme  for  creation  of infrastructure  for  movement  of    cargo/  passenger  by  sea/  National Waterways, have been sanctioned. The details of projects sanctioned are given at Annexure-I.
- (c):          Under  the  National Waterways Act, 2016, 111 National Waterways (NWs) including the five existing NWs, have been declared. While NWs-1, 2 and 3 are operational and cargo and passenger vessels are moving on them, on NW-4, the development works under Phase-I have been sanctioned in 2017. Further, preparation of a  Detailed Project Report (DPR) including Front End Engineering  Design  (FEED)  for  the  construction  of  weirs  /  barrages  with navigational locks and check dams between Pankapal and Paradip / Dhamra (Phase -I) has been sanctioned for development of NW-5.

Out of 106 newly declared NWs, 32 NWs are considered technically feasible so far.  The list of these 32 NWs is at Annexure-II .  Out of these 32 NWs  the  development  of  7  NWs  has  been  approved  as  per  details  at Annexure-III.

- (d):The development and promotion of tourists' destinations including cruise circuits and implementation of tourism projects is primarily the responsibility of the respective State Government/Union Territory Administration.

The  State  Government  of  Gujarat  has  informed  that  to  boost  shipping tourism in Dwarka section, under its Tourism Policy of 2015, it is promoting cruise terminals  at  Okha,  Dwarka,  Porbandar  and  Veraval.  The  Maharashtra  Maritime Board has informed that to facilitate to  and  fro  passengers  movement  between Mumbai  and  Elephanta Caves, installation of a new  floating pantoon at Shetbunder, Elephanta Island and work for widening and increasing the height of the  existing  old  jetty  at  Elephanta  Island  has  been  sanctioned.  West  Bengal Tourism Development Corporation and private tour operators conduct river cruise during GangasagarMela.

The Ministry of Shipping has taken various steps to boost cruise shipping in the  country.    These  include  developing  terminals  at  some  of  the  major  ports, rebates on vessel related charges, implementing Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for cruise vessels etc.

The Ministry of Tourism provides Central Financial Assistance (CFA) under relevant  schemes  to  State  Governments/  UTs  and  to  Central  Agencies  for various tourism projects including Cruise Terminals and Cruise Vessels subject to availability of funds.

- (e):        Expansion  and  modernisation  of  Major  Ports  in  the  country  is  an  on-going process to keep the ports abreast with new technologies and also to meet trade (traffic) requirements. The process primarily involves:-
- (i)    construction of new berths and terminals
- (ii)   mechanisation of existing berths and terminals
- (iii)  capital dredging for deepening of drafts for attracting large of vessels in portchannels
- (iv)  road and rail connectivity
- (v)   installation of vessel traffic management system (VTMS)

As  a  result  of  these  initiatives  taken  by  the  Govt.,  aggregate  cargo  handling capacity  in  Major  Ports  has  expanded  during  the  Twelfth  Plan  (01.04.2012  to 31.03.2017) from  696.53  Million  Tonnes  Per  Annum  (MTPA)  to  1065.83  MTPA while the cargo handled at Major ports increased from 560.13 MT to 647.76 MT during the Twelfth Plan period. The various modernization measures has enabled easy and smooth movement of goods at major ports.

## ANNEXURE-I

Annexure referred to in reply to parts (c) ofLokSabha Starred Question no.161  for 27.07.2017 raised by Shri S. R. Vijayakumar& Shri GajananKirtikar, M.Ps on 'Inland  Waterways'

|   Sl. No. | Name of the Project                                                |   Project Cost (Rs. in crore) |   Funds Sanctioned (Rs. in crore) |   Funds released (Rs. in crore) | Project Proponent                              |
|-----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------|---------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Construction of jetties at Gorai                                   |                          6.9  |                              3.45 |                            1.73 | Maharashtra Maritime Board                     |
|         2 | Construction of jetties at Vasai                                   |                          6.74 |                              3.37 |                            1.69 | Maharashtra Maritime Board                     |
|         3 | Construction of jetties at Bhayander                               |                         14.15 |                              7.1  |                            3.55 | Maharashtra Maritime Board                     |
|         4 | Construction of jetties at Narangi (Virar)                         |                          6.75 |                              3.37 |                            1.69 | Maharashtra Maritime Board                     |
|         5 | Construction of jetties at Kharwadeshwari (Palghar)                |                         12.92 |                              6.46 |                            3.23 | Maharashtra Maritime Board                     |
|         6 | Construction of jetties at Manori                                  |                          6.59 |                              3.29 |                            1.65 | Maharashtra Maritime Board                     |
|         7 | Construction of jetties at Ghodbunder                              |                          7.5  |                              3.75 |                            1.87 | Maharashtra Maritime Board                     |
|         8 | Construction of jetties at Malvan, Singhudurg                      |                         10.23 |                              5.11 |                            2.55 | Maharashtra Maritime Board                     |
|         9 | Construction of jetties at Borivali                                |                         15.47 |                              7.74 |                            3.87 | Maharashtra Maritime Board                     |
|        10 | Construction of Tourism Passenger Jetty at Bhavani Island, Krishna |                         37.21 |                             10    |                            5    | Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation |

## ANNEXURE-II

## Annexure referred to in reply to parts (c) ofLokSabha Starred Question no.161  for 27.07.2017 raised by Shri S. R. Vijayakumar& Shri

## GajananKirtikar, M.Ps on 'Inland  Waterways'

## LIST OF 32 NATIONAL WATERWAYS CONSIDERED TECHNICALLY FEASIBLE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPPING & NAVIGATION

1. BARAK (NW-16)
2. MANDOVI (NW-68)
3. ZUARI (NW-111)
4. CUMBERJUA (NW-27)
5. GHAGHRA (NW-40)
6. GANDAK (NW-37)
7. KOSI (NW-58)
8. SUNDERBAN WATERWAYS (NW-97)
9. AJOY (AJAY) RIVER (NW-7)
10. ICHAMATI RIVER (NW-44)
11.  RUPNARAYAN RIVER (NW-86)
12.  SUBARNREKHA RIVER (NW-96)
13. SUBANSIRI RIVER (NW-95)
14. BAITARNI RIVER (NW-14)
15. MAHANADI RIVER (NW-64)
16.  ALAPPUZHA- CHANGANASSERY CANAL (NW8)
17.  ALAPPUZHA- KOTTAYAM - ATHIRAMPUZHA CANAL (NW-9)
18.  KOTTAYAM-VAIKOM CANAL (NW-59)
19. GURUPUR RIVER (NW-43)
20. KABINI RIVER (NW-51)
21. KALI RIVER (NW-52)
22. NETRAVATHI RIVER (NW-74)
23. SHARAVATI RIVER (NW-90)
24. CHAPORA RIVER (NW-25)
25. MAPUSA - MOIDE RIVER (NW-71)
26. AMBA RIVER (NW-10)
27. DABHOL CREEK - VASHISHTI RIVER (NW-28)
28. REVADANDA CREEK - KUNDALIKA RIVER (NW-85)
29. SAVITRI RIVER (BANKOT CREEK) (NW-89)
30. MAHI RIVER (NW-66)
31. NARMADA RIVER (NW-73)
32. TAPI RIVER (NW-100)

## ANNEXURE - III

Annexure referred to in reply to parts (c) ofLokSabha Starred Question no.161  for 27.07.2017 raised by Shri S. R. Vijayakumar& Shri GajananKirtikar, M.Ps on 'Inland Waterways'

|   Sl. No. | Development of New National Waterways                                              | Development of New National Waterways                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
|-----------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | River Barak (NW 16):                                                               | Dredging work for development of fairway awarded. Consultant has been engaged for upgradation of terminals at Badarpur, Karimganj and new floating terminal at Silchar.                                                                                     |
|         2 | 03 (Three) Waterways in Goa (NW- 27:Cumberjua, NW 68 - Mandovi , NW 111 - Zuari ): | A proposal for development of these NWs at a cost of Rs 22.65 crore has been approved on 02.06.2017. Work is proposed to be executed through Government of Goa with the assistance of Mormugao Port Trust for which a tripartite MoU is under finalization. |
|         3 | Alappuzha-Kottayam- Athirampuzha Canal (NW-9) :                                    | Proposal for development at a cost of Rs 1.60 crore has been approved on 02.06.2017. Tendering is in progress for award of work.                                                                                                                            |
|         4 | River Gandak (NW-37) :                                                             | Proposal for development at a cost of Rs 12.91 crore has been approved on 02.06.2017. Tendering is in progress for award of work.                                                                                                                           |
|         5 | River Rupnarayan (NW-86) :                                                         | Proposal for development at a cost of Rs 24.00 crore has been approved on 02.06.2017. Tendering is in progress for award of work.                                                                                                                           |

## ANNEXURE - IV

Annexure referred to in reply to parts (c) ofLokSabha Starred Question no.161  for 27.07.2017 raised by Shri S. R. Vijayakumar& Shri GajananKirtikar, M.Ps on 'Inland Waterways'

List  of  ongoing  Projects  under  Central  Financial  Assistance  (CFA)  to  Central Agencies for Cruise Tourism:-

| Sl. No.       | Central Agency              | Project Name                                                                              | Amount Sanctioned (Rs. in Crores)   |
|---------------|-----------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
| 1.            | Mormugao Port Trust, Goa    | Cruise Terminal Building at Mormugao Port Trust                                           | 8.7904                              |
| 2.            | Cochin Port Trust, Kochi    | Development of a Walkway/Promenade on Willingdon Island, Cochin                           | 9.01                                |
| 3.            | Cochin Port Trust, Kochi    | Upgrading of Berths and Backup Area of Ernakulam Wharf.                                   | 21.41                               |
| 4.            | Mumbai Port Trust, Mumbai   | Development of KanojiAngre Light House as a tourist destination in Maharashtra            | 15.00                               |
| 5.            | Chennai Port Trust, Chennai | Cruise Passenger Facilitation Centre in the existing Passenger Terminal at Chennai Port . | 17.2466                             |
| Total: 71.457 | Total: 71.457               | Total: 71.457                                                                             | Total: 71.457                       |

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