Union Budget 2014: Haldia-Allahabad waterways stands benefited with Rs 4,200 crore funds

ALLAHABAD: Finance minister Arun Jaitley's maiden budget had brought cheers for the people living on the banks of the Ganga. The announcement of Rs 4,200 crores fund to rejuvenate the Haldia-Allahabad waterway has spelled hope for operators of medium and large ships that were not able to reach Allahabad due to silt deposition in the Ganga.
The Haldia-Allahabad Waterway is the longest in the country, with an overall length of 1,620 kilometres.The first cargo ship arrived at Allahabad way back in 1998 which had anchored in Saraswati Ghat of the city. Later, another cargo ship, named MV Rajgopalchari, left for Haldia along with 600 metric tonnes of cement.
The waterways was also used for shipping the building material during the construction of New Yamuna bridge. In 2009, a large chimney meant for a thermal power plant being constructed in trans-Yamuna was subject of curiosity for hundreds of onlookers.
"However, navigation up to Allahabad deteriorated because of increase of silt on the riverbed after 2003," junior hydrographic surveyor of Inland Waterway Authority of India RC Pandey said. "Big cargo ships need two-metre of water depth for smooth navigation. Because of increase in silt, the depth has decreased substantially. Although new cargo ships can smoothly navigate in 1.5 metres depth. There are ships which remove silt while moving forward," he added.
The stretch of around 41 kms from Allahabad to Sirsa (downstream) has an average depth of 0.8 metres because of which large cargo ships are not able to reach Allahabad. The department needed huge funds to remove silt and make the waterway navigational throughout the year.
Even traders, officials of industrial houses and common man are in an upbeat mood after the budgetary announcement. "After a long time, Allahabad will again contribute to the development of the nation and this will also improve employment opportunities," said SU Khan, a trader involved in supplying items to companies of Naini industrial area and has to depend on trains or roads to bring products from Kolkata.
In deep waters?
(A) For making a terminal on this waterway, the department, in 2004, had purchased 9.87 acres of land at Lawayin Khurd in Karchana block. The department had invested Rs 35 lakhs to procure land and had planned to construct a warehouse equipped with needed infrastructure. However, crunch of funds had derailed the projects, which are now likely to restart after the budget speech
(B) Transporting cargo through waterway is 75% cheaper as compared to trains, thus starting of this waterway will enhance transportation and promote trading from Allahabad with eastern parts of the country
(C ) Last year, two cargo ships had left Haldia port for Allahabad but because of lack of water depth, the cargo had to be unloaded before Allahabad
(D) Haldia-Allahabad route is as follows: Allahabad, Sirsa, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Gazipur, Ballia, Patna, Bhagalpur, Farraka and Kolkata