Lok Sabha Question No. 965 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-03
Subject: Passenger Service by Waterways
Ministry: PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS
Asked by: Manoj Kishorbhai Kotak, Raksha Nikhil Khadse

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY  OF PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.965

ANSWERED ON 3RD DECEMBER,  2021

## PASSENGER SERVICE BY WATERWAYS

## 965, SHRI MANOJ KOTAK. SHRIMATI RAKSHA  NIKHIL KHADSE,

will the Minister  of PoRTS, SHIPPING  AND WATERWAYS be pleased to state.

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- (a) whether under sagarmala  project, Roll-on/ Roll- of passenger  service (ROPAX) and water taxi services  has been started on some routes in coastal  States including Maharashtra,
- (b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise  and project wise;
- (c) whether twenty-three  National  wateMays  (NWs) have been found to be viable for cargo and passenger movement and two NWs have been found to be viable for tourism  purpose;
- (d) if so, details thereof; and
- (e) the steps taken by Government  for waterways and integrating  them with economic development  of the countrY?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF PORTS,  SHIPPING  AND WATERWAYS (SHRI SARBANANDA  SONOWAL)

- (a)&(b)Yes,Governmentoflndiahasundertakennumberofprojectsunder Sagarmala for improvement of infrastructure related to Roll-on/Roll-off  passenger services.  The details  of projects  are attached  at Annexure-l'
- (c) & (d) Based  on the outcome  of techno-economic  feasibility  and Detailed Proiect Reports(DPRs)ofNWs,25NWshavebeenfoundviablebylnlandWaterways Authority of lndia (lwAl) for cargo/passenger  movement.  The list of the 25 NWs is at Annexure-ll.
- (e) ln addition to developmental activities on  'l  3 NWs and holding  stakeholders conferences for IWT cargo  promotion, the steps taken by Government for waterways and integrating  them with economic  development of the country are at Annexure-lll.

## Annexure I

| Name of Project under Sagarmala                                             | Route                        | State       |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------|-------------|
| Capital dredging in Navigational Channel for Ro- Ro Pax Services at Mandwa  | Mumbai Ferry Wharf to Mandwa | Maharashtra |
| Construction of break water at Mandwa                                       | Mumbai Ferry Wharf to Mandwa | Maharashtra |
| Ro Ro service at Mandwa - Phase 2 of Mandwa port development                | Mumbai Ferry Wharf to Mandwa | Maharashtra |
| Dredging of RO-Pax Ferry Services between Gogha and Dahej in Gulf of Cambay | Ghogha - Dahej               | Gujarat     |

-/'

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## Annexure-ll

## LIST OF 25 NATIONAL WATERWAYS  FEASIBLE FOR CARGO/ PASSENGER MOVEMENT

| st. No.   | National Waterway No.   | Details of Waterways                                                      | STATES                                        | Status                                                                          |
|-----------|-------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1         | National Waterway       | Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly River System (Haldia - Allahabad)                | Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand & West Bengal | Development taken up Assistance f World Bank Marg V Proiect with Irom Jal 'ikas |
| 2         | National Waterway 2     | Brahmaputra River (Dhubri - Qq{ya)                                        | Assam                                         | Development taken up as approved SF( FY 20-21 to 2 25 ; per C for >_024-        |
| 3         | National Waterway 16    | Barak River                                                               | Assam                                         | Development taken up as approved SF( FY 20-21 to 2 25 ; per C for >_024-        |
| 4         | National Waterway 3     | West Coast Canal (Kottapuram - Kollam), Champakara and Udvoqmandal Canals | Kerala                                        | Operational Waterways development maintenance work taken up and and             |
| 5         | National Watenruay 4    | Krishna River (Vijayawada - Muktyala)                                     | Andhra Pradesh                                | Operational Waterways development maintenance work taken up and and             |
| 6         | National Waterway 5     | Dhamra-Paradip via Mangalagadi to Pankopal                                | Odisha                                        | Operational Waterways development maintenance work taken up and and             |
| 7         | NationalWaterway B      | Alappuzha- Changanassery Canal (only for Tourism)                         | Kerala                                        | Operational Waterways development maintenance work taken up and and             |
| B         | National Watenruay 9    | Alappuzha-Kottayam Athirampuzha Canal                                     | Kerala Alternate route. 11.5km                | Operational Waterways development maintenance work taken up and and             |
| I         | National Watenruay 27   | Cumberjua River                                                           | Goa                                           | Operational Waterways development maintenance work taken up and and             |
| 10        | National Waterway 6B    | Mandovi River                                                             | Goa                                           | Operational Waterways development maintenance work taken up and and             |
| 11        | National Waterway 86    | Rupnarayan River                                                          | West Bengal                                   | Operational Waterways development maintenance work taken up and and             |
| 12        | National Watenruay 97   | Sunderbans Waterway                                                       | West Bengal                                   | Operational Waterways development maintenance work taken up and and             |
| 13        | National Watenruay 111  | Zuari River                                                               | Goa                                           | Operational Waterways development maintenance work taken up and and             |
| 14        | National Waterway 10    | Amba River                                                                | Maharashtra                                   | Projects appraisal                                                              |
| 15        | National Waterway 40    | Ghagra River                                                              | Bihar                                         | Projects appraisal                                                              |
| 16        | National Waterurray 44  | lchamati River                                                            | West Bengal                                   | Projects appraisal                                                              |
| 17        |                         | li.River telv io-i                                                        | rarnatitia                                    | Projects appraisal                                                              |

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| st. No.   | National Waterway No.   | Details of Waterways                     | STATES                                              | Status                                                                                                                        |
|-----------|-------------------------|------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|           | 52                      | tourism)                                 |                                                     |                                                                                                                               |
| 18        | National Watenruay 57   | Kopili River                             | Assam                                               |                                                                                                                               |
| 19        | National Waterway 25    | Chapora River                            | Goa                                                 |                                                                                                                               |
| 20        | National Waterurray 37  | Gandak River                             | Bihar                                               |                                                                                                                               |
| 21        | National Waterway 28    | Dabhol Creek Vasisti River               | Maharashtra Maharashtra & Guiarat Maharashtra Bihar | Substantial cargo moves in tidal waters/ river mouth under respective State maritime board. No interventions are contemplated |
| 22        | National Watenvay 73    | Narmada River                            |                                                     | Substantial cargo moves in tidal waters/ river mouth under respective State maritime board. No interventions are contemplated |
| 23        | National Waterway B5    | Revadanda Creek - Kundalika River System |                                                     | Substantial cargo moves in tidal waters/ river mouth under respective State maritime board. No interventions are contemplated |
| 24        | National Waterway 94    | Sone River                               |                                                     | Substantial cargo moves in tidal waters/ river mouth under respective State maritime board. No interventions are contemplated |
| 25        | National Waterway 100   | Tapi River                               | Maharashtra & Gujarat                               | by lWAl as of now.                                                                                                            |

## 1. DIGITAL SOLUTIONS FOR EASE-OF.DOING  BUSINESS

- . CAR-D (Cargo Data) Portal: GAR-D is a web based  portal for collection & compilation, analysis  and dissemination  of all cargo and cruise movement  data of National waterways to the stakeholders.
- . PANI (Portal for Asset & Navigation  lnformation): PANI is an integrated  solutton brining river navigation and infrastructure  information  on a single platform. lt  provides detailed information  of various features of National waterways and the assets such as fairway,  infrastructure  facilities, cross-river  structures,  connectivity  at  jetties, emergency services for facititating  transportation  of cargo'

ThesesolutionsincreaSecollaborationaCrossdivergentstakeholders,improve organizational  consistency,  increased resource agility' enhances  ownership and accountability  for each stakeholder leading to improved management  of activities'  By having public access to key work being done by lWAl for the sector, will enhance lWAl,s standing  in the markel and will increase  trust in the sector'

## 2.oTHERINITIATIVESFoRGRoWTHoFTRAFFICoNNATIoNALWATERWAYS

1. Revision  of Levy & Collection  of Fees, Taking ahead the vision of the Government  of lndia to promote lnland  waterways  as a supplementary  mode of transport, the Ministry  of Ports,shippingandWatenruayshasallowedwaiverofwateMayuserchargesinitiallyfor a period of three  Years.
2. Enhanced regional trade using IWT mode:
3. with 7 new ports of call agreed  to be added on each side along with addition/  extension  of WaterwayroutesunderPIWT&TbetweenlndiaandBangladesh,theaccessibrlityoflWT mode for trade between lndia and Bangladesh  is expected to increase and result in groMh of traffic on NWs.

## a. Addition  of new Ports of call and routes in lndia and Bangladesh  under PlwT&T:

- b. lnclusion of lwT mode in the lndo-Nepal  trade treaty:  lnland waterways  mode has beenagreedforinclusioninthetradetreatybetweenlndiaandNepal.Thiswillallow Nepal bound cargo (coming from 3rd country  via Kolkata  port and lndia's exports)  to take waterwayuptoSahibganlftlVff(Jharkhand),proposedKalughatterminalnearPatna (Biha| and Varanasi MMT (UP) and further movement  to Nepal via road'
2. c.TradebetweenBhutanandBangladesh:StoneexportersfromBhutanhave identified  lnland  waterways  as an alternate mode of transportation  considering the benefits  associated  with waterways mode such as lower transportation cost, larger shipmentsizecomparedtoroad,avoidingcongestiononlandroutesetc'Thefirst movementundersupervisionoflWAlwassuccessfullyexecuiedinJuly20l9.Thistrade using the lwT mode is expected to continue and reach a significant scale in the coming years.

-S1

## 3' Standard  operating Procedures (SoPs) for facilitating  the Stakeholders to use lnland water Transport  and access the various information related to National Waterways

The list of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)  for various National Watenruays which are available  at lWAl website is as given  below.

- i' Standard  operating Procedures (SOP)  of the Agreement on the use of Chattogram  and Mongla Ports for movement  of goods to and from lndia between the Government of the People's  Republic  of Bangladesh  and the Government  of Republic  of lndia.
- iii' Standard Operating  Procedures (SoP) for the MoU on use of lnland Waterurays  for Transportation  of Bilateral Trade and Transit cargoes between the Government of People's  Republic  of Bangladesh  and the Government  of Republic  of lndia.
- ii' Standard operating  Procedures (SoP) of MoU on Passenger and Cruise Services  on the Coastal  and Protocol Route between  the Government  of the  people's  Republic of Bangladesh  and the Government  of Repubric of rndia.
- iv' Standard operating Procedures (SOP) for the Movement  of Vessels on  protocol  on lnland Water Transit and Trade (PIWT&T)  to contain  the spread  of COV;D19.
- v' Standard  Operating Procedures  (SOP) and Check List for Ro-Ro  / Ro-pax vessel operations  on National Watenruays.
- vi. standard  operating  procedures  (sop) for car-D  portar.

## 4. Ro-Ro/Ro-Pax  Service commenced in Various Nationa!  waterways

The operation of Ro-Ro / Ro-Pax vessels inaugurated by Hon'ble  prime  Minster during February 2021 for the following routes:

1. Neamati and Kamalabari  (Majuli)  (Assam),
2. Guwahati and North Guwahati  (Assam),
3. Dhubri and Fakirganj  (U/S Hatsingimari)  (Assam)  and
4. Wellingdon  lsland and Bolghaty  (Kerala)

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