Coal news and updates

Govt gets cracking on developing 101 waterways

April 30: The Indian government is looking to undertake a large-scale survey of rivers to develop 101 waterways across the country. Furthermore, a separate coal assessment study is slated to be undertaken which will map the capacity, cargo volumes, various types of coal cargo etc, based on the detailed project report, a source informed ICMW.

Working towards the first survey, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) recently floated a tender for 40 waterways. “The tender has been floated for the purpose of conducting the said survey,” said the source.

With a proposal under way to declare 101 national inland waterways across the country, a Bill is slated to be placed in Parliament in the upcoming Session. Once this is cleared by both Houses, these rivers (whichever ones are declared for developing into inland waterways) need to be studied. The survey will focus on how much water there is in each identified waterway, the water volumes and depth required for transportation, the obstructions and kind of navigational infrastructure required, amongst other things, the source informed.

The waterways will create a logistics network with rail and road. The enactment is expected to open up business opportunities in the areas of dredging, barge construction, barge operation, terminal construction and operation, storage facilities and tourist cruises.

So far, five waterways have been declared as national waterways. However, although the 4th and 5th waterways have been declared, surveys and developmental work is under planning, said the source.

The recent 40 tenders also relate to the 4th and 5th waterways, apart from the surveys and development process, it is learnt.

A separate coal assessment study will also be done which will map the capacity, cargo volumes, the various types of cargo etc once all the 101 waterways are navigable, to determine the coal volumes, based on the detailed project report, the source informed.

The first or National Waterway I is the Ganga-Hooghly-Bhagirathi river system, extending from Allahabad to Haldia. The second is the River Brahmaputra extending for a stretch of 891 km from Dhubri to Sadyia. National Waterway 3 comprises the West Coast Canal System (there are various canals in the west coast in Kerala running for the length of 205 km).

National Waterways 4 comprises the Godawari and Krishna integrated canal system, connecting the states of Telengana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and comprises the three main canals of Eluru, Buckingham and Commamur. The 5th Inland Waterway comprises the East Coast canals, stretching from Talcher to Dhamra. This is a T-shaped waterway, comprising the Talcher, Dhamra and Paradip canals.

Of these five, Inland Waterways 1, 2 and 3 are in various stages of development, and they are navigable to some extent; however, this is a continuous job that is being undertaken by the IWAI.