Waterways going forward
Nitin Gadkari, Water Minister wants to create a River Grid on par with a power grid. His priority is to make waterways a popular mode of freight transportation. ❡ Waterways will have to be made navigable. It will be environment friendly and cheaper to transport goods ❡.
Immediate expansion of Waterways
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Funding for the first Rs 5000cr projects was raised with WB assistance. Ministry has now secured Rs 2,000cr per year from 2.5% of CRF. This will enable work of Rs 12,000cr.
Projects on Ganga and Brahamaputra have started, another 10 projects will start by the end of 2017 and 10 projects will be operational by end of 2018! This involves build out of multi-modal terminals, fairways, navigation locks and River Information Systems. Private cruise tourism is also being facilitated on Ganga (from Kolkata to Varanasi).
Mid-term expansion of Waterways
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Shipping ministry can now develop any of 106 new NWs that were sanctioned by parliament in 2016. Ministry has targeted 24 NWs in next 3 years. Priority will be given for PP mode. Sufficient water depth would be created for a 2000 DWT barge which is equivalent to 125 trucks or 1 full train rake of 40 wagons.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/infrastructure/10-waterways-to-be-made-operational-next-year-nitin-gadkari/articleshow/58896336.cms
Future plans
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▬ All 111 NWs will get covered eventually
▬ Rs 25,000cr would be required for identified projects on NWs till 2022-23.
▬ 180k people would be employed for operations and management of infra (like fairways, terminals, navigation)
▬ India plans to build waterways to Myanmar via Bangladesh
Smart Waterways — an alternative to river linking?
National river linking has not made headway in over 2 decades. Surplus water States saw little benefit in losing their water and opposed it. Other factors were lack of political will by Centre, people displacement, environmental hurdles, high construction costs (which are upward of $80-B) and high power demand. Power demand, it was felt would make water expensive and over-stretch capabilities of the country.
Proponents of Smart Waterways state it does not need to pump water because links are built on level ground and water can be shared in either direction. There would be no dispute because it will take flood water which would have flowed to sea. On the benefits side, proponents claim Smart Waterways would irrigate double the area compared to river linking; control 40% of floods compared to just 4%; add 15000 km of navigation; and reduce land acquisition to just one-quarter.
Comment
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Is it possible to control flood waters without a significant gradient? A level link is only useful if reverse flow (from deficit to surplus river systems) was needed— does this situation ever arise? Water doesn't naturally flow from North to South or more specifically from Brahmaputra to Tamil Nadu—how is it possible to bring water down South without pumping?
Nitin Gadkari, Water Minister wants to create a River Grid on par with a power grid. His priority is to make waterways a popular mode of freight transportation. ❡ Waterways will have to be made navigable. It will be environment friendly and cheaper to transport goods ❡.
Immediate expansion of Waterways
Funding for the first Rs 5000cr projects was raised with WB assistance. Ministry has now secured Rs 2,000cr per year from 2.5% of CRF. This will enable work of Rs 12,000cr.
Projects on Ganga and Brahamaputra have started, another 10 projects will start by the end of 2017 and 10 projects will be operational by end of 2018! This involves build out of multi-modal terminals, fairways, navigation locks and River Information Systems. Private cruise tourism is also being facilitated on Ganga (from Kolkata to Varanasi).
Mid-term expansion of Waterways
Shipping ministry can now develop any of 106 new NWs that were sanctioned by parliament in 2016. Ministry has targeted 24 NWs in next 3 years. Priority will be given for PP mode. Sufficient water depth would be created for a 2000 DWT barge which is equivalent to 125 trucks or 1 full train rake of 40 wagons.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/infrastructure/10-waterways-to-be-made-operational-next-year-nitin-gadkari/articleshow/58896336.cms
Future plans
▬ All 111 NWs will get covered eventually
▬ Rs 25,000cr would be required for identified projects on NWs till 2022-23.
▬ 180k people would be employed for operations and management of infra (like fairways, terminals, navigation)
▬ India plans to build waterways to Myanmar via Bangladesh
Smart Waterways — an alternative to river linking?
National river linking has not made headway in over 2 decades. Surplus water States saw little benefit in losing their water and opposed it. Other factors were lack of political will by Centre, people displacement, environmental hurdles, high construction costs (which are upward of $80-B) and high power demand. Power demand, it was felt would make water expensive and over-stretch capabilities of the country.
Proponents of Smart Waterways state it does not need to pump water because links are built on level ground and water can be shared in either direction. There would be no dispute because it will take flood water which would have flowed to sea. On the benefits side, proponents claim Smart Waterways would irrigate double the area compared to river linking; control 40% of floods compared to just 4%; add 15000 km of navigation; and reduce land acquisition to just one-quarter.
Comment
Is it possible to control flood waters without a significant gradient? A level link is only useful if reverse flow (from deficit to surplus river systems) was needed— does this situation ever arise? Water doesn't naturally flow from North to South or more specifically from Brahmaputra to Tamil Nadu—how is it possible to bring water down South without pumping?
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