Lok Sabha Question No. 1058 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-08
Subject: Development of Water ways
Ministry: PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS
Asked by: N.K. Premachandran

- (h) Kerala?

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  1058

ANSWERED ON 08.12.2023

## DEVELOPMENT OF WATERWAYS

1058.  SHRI N.K. PREMACHANDRAN:

Will the Minister of PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS be pleased to state:

## पȅन , पोतपįरवहनऔरजलमागŊमंũी

- (a) whether the Government proposes to complete the development of water ways in Kollam Loksabha Constituency in a time bound manner; (b) if so, the details thereof; (c) the details of the total central fund allocated/utilised fordeveloping National Water Ways in Kollam from 2019 onwards; (d) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  fix  time  frame  for  the  completionof development of water ways in said area; (e) if so, the details thereof and the action taken thereon; (f) whether the Government proposes to ensure the transportation throughNational Water ways in Kerala within a fixed time frame; (g) if so, the details thereof and the action taken thereon; and the  details  of  reasons  for  delay  in  the  development  of  National  Water  Waysin

## ANSWER

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

(a),  (b),  (d)    &  (e)  Out  of  205  km of  the  National Waterway No.3, 17 Km stretch from Kannittakkadavu (Ch.164km)  to Kollam (Ch.181km)  is in  the  Kollam  LokSabha Constituency  which  is  operational.  Capital  dredging  including  widening  and  bank protection in the above stretch has been completed except for a length of 1.2 km due to want of dredged material disposal site.NHAI requested for dredging and taking out bed material  from  National  Waterways  for  development  of  National  Highways  in  southern part of Kerala and IWAI has issued NOC for the same subject to final permission by the Government of Kerala.

For large cargo vessel movement, reconstruction of an existing narrow foot over bridge at Kovilthottamhas been entrusted on deposit basis with an advance of Rs. 1.38 cr. to the Harbour Engineering Department, Government of Kerala.

(c)The details of the fund allocation and utilization for developing National Waterways in Kerala from 2019 onwards is given at Annex.-1.

- (f) Transportation through National Waterways of Kerala is already taking place. In NW3, NW-8 and NW-9, about 32.79 Lakh Tonnes of Cargo has been transported in 202223.
- (g)For  promotion  of  IWT,successful  trial  run  of  container  barge  from  Kochi  Port  to Kottayam Port has been conducted. Further, for movement of bigger cargo vessels on NW-3,reconstruction  of  navigational  lock  at  Thrikkunnappuzhahas  been  entrusted  to Irrigation  Department,  Government  of  Kerala  on  deposit  basis  at  a  cost  of  Rs.38 crore.After  completion  of  the  construction  of  Thrikkunnappuzha  navigational  lock, appropriate size barges can move towards Chavara for economical movement.

(h) The  details  of  reason  for  delaying  the  development  of  National  Water  Waysin Kerala are at Annex.-2.

## Annex.-1

The details of the fund allocation and utilization for developing National Waterways in Kerala from 2019 onwards is as follows:

| Financial Year   |   Budget Allocation (in Cr) |   Actual Expenditure (in Cr) |
|------------------|-----------------------------|------------------------------|
| 2018-19          |                       34.17 |                        19.1  |
| 2019-20          |                       50.18 |                        28.74 |
| 2020-21          |                       24.84 |                        21.18 |
| 2021-22          |                       19.07 |                        11.38 |
| 2022-23          |                       10.4  |                         7.47 |

## Annex.-2

The details of reason for delaying the development of National Water Waysin Kerala:

1.  IWAI  is  pursuing  with  Government  of  Kerala  to  complete  the  reconstruction  of navigational  lock  at  Thrikkunnappuzha  at  an  early  date  and  also  taken  up  the  issues with  Customs Department to include Water Transport in their EDI System to facilitate movement of Export and Import cargo to Kottayam Port through IWT mode.

2. The reason for delay in dredging projects is the non-availability of site for disposal of dredged materials. The Waterways in Kerala is comparatively narrow and both banks of the National Waterway is either thickly populated or wet land.

3. As per the prevailing norms in Kerala, reclamation of wet land is not permitted. The site  for  disposal  of  dredged  material  is  to  be  allocated  by  the  concerned  District Collector as per the Government Order which is also getting delayed.

4.  Since,  the  activities  are  taking  place  in  thickly  populated  area,  the  interference  of local people are also more and which leads to stoppage of works.

5.  For  reconstruction  of  foot  over  bridge  at  Kovilthottam,  IWAI  entrusted  the  work  to Harbour  Engineering  Department  and  an  amount  of  Rs.1.38Crores  has  deposited  in 2017. But the work could not commence so far by Government of Kerala.

6. The  reconstruction  of  navigational  lock  is entrusted  to  Irrigation  Department, Government  of  Kerala  in  2017.  The  total  project  cost  of  Rs.38Crores  released  to Government of Kerala and progress of the work is not satisfactory even though IWAI is regularly pursuing the matter with the State Government.

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