Gadkari lays foundation stones of UP projects
A Detailed Project Report on the development of National Waterway (NW) 40 envisages terminals at five locations – Ayodhya, Mahirpur (Tanda/Kalwari), Dohrighat, Tortipar and Manjhighat.
Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), under Ministry of Shipping, has already initiated work in Phase–I with project cost of Rs.11.6 crore.
It has constructed the floating terminal at Tanda/Kalwari to facilitate cargo and passenger movement on River Ghagra and River Ganga.
Under Phase 1, the draft of 2 metre and width of 45 metre will be constructed in addition to floating terminals through Pontoon-Gangway at two locations- Tanda/Kalwari and Manjhighat, as per details given in a release.
Meanwhile, Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari has laid the foundation stone for the development work of Ghagra river as NW-40 at Basti in Uttar Pradesh on 9 Oct 2018.
The DPR on NW-40 projects movement of various categories of cargo, namely, agricultural products (rice, wheat, pulses, sugar, livestock), industrials products, coal (for Tanda power plant), coarse sand, bricks, paper products, leather and other general goods etc. through inland vessel capacity up to 1,000 tonne.
The first phase works are scheduled to be completed by 2019-20.
This waterway is being classified as class-III waterway which envisages movement of up to 1,000-ton capacity vessels. Besides cargo and passenger movement, NW-40 will provide a connectivity to tourist and pilgrimage places along river Gaghra and Ganga.
The waterway, part of the Sagarmala Programme, from Manjhighat at Ganga-Gaghra river confluence to Faizabad/Ayodhya along Gaghra River for a length of 354 km was declared as NW-40 in 2016.
Other projects under IWAI in Uttar Pradesh include: Freight Village & Logistics Hub and Multimodal terminal at Varanasi under the Jal Marg Vikas Project.
The terminal, to be inaugurated in November 2018, is being constructed at a cost of Rs.169.70 crore with a capacity of 1.26 MTPA.
The terminal will boost trade via waterways with reduced logistics costs, better connectivity to coastal regions and neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh and North eastern states through Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route.
Gadkari, who is also Road Transport & Highways, Nitin has laid the foundation stone for widening and improvement of Rs.1,224 crore worth of National Highways works in Uttar Pradesh.
The projects include widening and improvement of Ramjanaki Marg (NH-227A) from Ayodhya Cantt to Rampur (55 km) at a cost of Rs.315 crore, and 35 km from Rampur to Sikriganj at a cost of Rs.250 crore. Shri Gadkari will also lay the foundation for the 14 km long Basti Ring Road Phase 1 which is to be constructed at a cost of Rs.450 crore, and the widening and improvement of the 35 km long Badhni-Shoratganj section of NH-730, to be undertaken for a cost of Rs200 crore. fiinews.com
