Approved development of NW-2 during 2020-21 to 2024-25 including ship repair facility
The Government has established a Multi-Modal river port at Pandu (Guwahati) as it is the most important location on National Waterways (NW-2) (river Brahamputra), Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on 22 Mar 2022.
The Government has approved a project for development of NW-2 at a cost of Rs.461 crore during 2020-21 to 2024-25, one of the component of which is the establishment of a ship repair facility at a cost of Rs.72.6 crore.
Details of Multi-Modal Terminal at Pandu (Guwahati) on NW-2 (river Brahmaputra) are:
A master plan has been prepared for phased development of terminal at Pandu where a low-level jetty at a cost of Rs.40.02 crores was made operational in 2009.
A Rs.43.89 crores high level jetty has been operating at the port since 2014-15 for round the year operation with mechanical handing facility including containers.
A Rs.16.46 crore broad gauge railway siding connecting Pandu port to Kamakhya railway station (Guwahati) has been in operation since 2013.
Fairway development works:
To improve the connectivity between NW-1 and NW-2/NW-16 via the Indo Bangladesh protocol route, the critical and shallow stretches between Sirajganj and Daikhowa on protocol route No.1 & 2 and Ashuganj and Zakiganj on protocol rote No.3 & 4 in Bangladesh are being jointly developed by India and Bangladesh for round the year navigability (with targeted LAD of 2.5 metres).
Similarly, fairway development works are being carried out on NW-97 in Sunderbans to allow smooth navigation of vessels on the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route.
Addition of new Ports of Call and routes in India and Bangladesh under PIWT&T: With 7 new ports of call in addition to existing 6 on each side along with addition and extension of 2 waterway routes in addition to existing 8 routes between the two countries, the accessibility of IWT mode for trade between India and Bangladesh is expected to increase and result in growth of traffic on NWs.
Stakeholder consultations: IWAI has carried out stakeholder consultations at six different locations (Kolkata, Kochi, Mumbai, Patna, Goa and Dhaka) in FY-20 and 9 conference-cum-webinars during FY-21, said Sonowal. fiinews.com
