IWAI Signs MoUs Dredging Corporation
Development of Inland Water Transport is a priority of the Ministry of Shipping. After the declaration of 106 new National Waterways, in addition to the existing 5 National Waterways, under the National Waterways Act, 2016, the responsibilities of Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) have increased manifold.
To ensure the development of the National Waterways in a time-bound and effective manner, the IWAI in the presence of Nitin Gadkari , Hon`ble Minister of Shipping and Road Transport & Highways has signed three separate Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dredging Corporation of India (DCI), Paradip Port Trust (PPT) and Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) on Wednesday, 28th September 2016.
These MoUs are meant to make use of the synergies, strengths and expertise of the Ports and Dredging sectors to enable IWAI to accelerate the development of Inland Water Transport (IWT) sector as an alternative, viable and environment friendly mode of transport.
While the MoU with DCI will enable IWAI to maintain navigable depth in National Waterways, the MoUs with PPT and MPT will help IWAI to develop National Waterway-5 in Odisha and various National Waterways in Goa ,respectively.
To ensure development of the fairways, the dredging responsibilities of the IWAI are expected to increase rapidly in the next few years. Under the MoU, DCI will supplement the asset base of IWAI by purchasing/leasing shallow depth dredgers and operating them in National Waterways. DCI will also prepare cost estimates and determine the duration of the dredging projects .
The MoU between MPT and IWAI will assist IWAI in the development of National Waterways like Mandovi river (NW-68), Zuari river (NW-111), Chapora river (NW-25), Cumbharjua canal (NW-27), Mapusa river (NW-71), and Sal river (NW-88) in Goa.
The MoU between IWAI and PPT will result in a collaboration between IWAI and PPT to develop a viable navigation system on NW-5 in Odisha for Phase-1 (Pankapal-Paradip/Dhamra-212 Km on the Brahmaniand Mahanadi river system) to facilitate the movement of cargo vessels of economical size and viable capacity.
