Vns-Haldia waterways: PM likely to flag off first cargo vessel in July

Varanasi: Almost a decade after the declaration of Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system from Allahabad to Haldia as National Waterway No 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to make it operational in the first week of July by performing 'bhoomi pujan' here and flagging off the first cargo vessel on Varanasi-Haldia waterways.
The 1,620 km stretch of Ganga defined as Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system from Allahabad to Haldia was declared as National Waterway in 1986.It passes through UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
Union minister for road transport and highways and shipping Nitin Gadkari informed through video-conferencing on Thursday afternoon that the first phase of this waterways project in the Ganga will be completed by 2017. The terminal is being constructed in Ramnagar. For trial, a vessel of 1,000 dead weight tonnes (DWT) will also be flagged off on the occasion. Besides, passenger ferry service in the Ganga between Varanasi and Allahabad will also be started, for which detailed project report (DPR) is being prepared. The government also plans to begin water transportation through other rivers like Varuna, Ghaghra, Yamuna and others.
According to the report of the ministry of shipping, under the Jal Marg Vikas Project, government is developing NW-1 with technical assistance and investment support from the World Bank for providing an assured depth of 2.5 to 3.0 metres in the fairway to enable safe navigation of at least 1,500-2000 tonne vessels.
The phase-I of the project covers the Haldia-Varanasi stretch. The project would be completed at an estimated cost of approximately Rs 4,200 crore. The expenditure would cover strengthening of open river navigation techniques and hardware, river fairway and conservancy works, modern River Information System (RIS), Digital Global Positioning System (DGPS), night navigation facilities, modern methods of channel marking, construction of a new navigational lock at Farakka and terminals at selected locations.
Multimodal terminals with rail and road connectivity would be constructed at Varanasi, Haldia and Sahibganj. The project is being implemented in two phases. The phase-I (A) is being implemented on 5.586 hectares of land at Ram Nagar in Varanasi, mainly for offshore works of the terminal. Besides, 61 acres of land has been taken on 30-year lease from the Haldia Dock Complex for construction of the terminal in Haldia. The estimated cost of construction of phase-I of the terminal is Rs 465 crore.