Rivers to be National Waterways and Regenerate Rural India

In India IWT has so far been deprived of inadequate investment. Lately the Govt. of India has proposed developing National Waterways along 107 Rivers beside the existing three, mainly to provide cheaper and environment-friendly transport. This will, bring about a regeneration of the rural areas with consequent benefits like flood prevention and generation of large scale employment.

Transcript

1. SOBHANLAL BONNERJEE WORLD CANAL CONFERENCE 2016
 Inverness, Scotland, UK RIVERS TO BE NATIONAL WATERWAYS AND REGENERATE RURAL INDIA
2. * 14500 Kms. Navigable * 5200 Kms. of Rivers & * 4000 Kms. of Canals Are suitable For mechanical boats.
3. 
 Most important 
 among them are
 INDUS & its five tributaries Bipasha, Shatadru, Bitasta Chandrabhaga, Iravati GANGA Himalayas BRAHMAPUTRA YAMUNA MAHANADI Vindhya NARMADA GODAVARI KRISHNA Western KAVERI Ghats
4. BOATS TRADITIONALLY carried people from villages to towns. Agricultural & Forest products formed bulk of the freight. Later, Coal, Iron ore, Bricks, Stone, & many other products were added to the list of Principal Commodities Even then, total goods carried by water transport in India is 44000 MTs. Share of water borne freight stands at 3.5% only in terms of MT-Km. of W. EUROPE CHINA BANGLA DESH INDIA >40% 35% 3.5%
5. NATIONAL WATERWAYS IN INDIA
6. National Waterway 1 NW-1 – Allahabad- Haldia stretch of the Ganga- Bhagirathi- Hooghly river system – 1620 km
7. NW-2 – Sadiya- Dhubri stretch of Brahmaputra river – 891 km
8. NW-3 – Kollam- Kottappuram stretch of West Coast Canal, Champakara canal and Udyogmandal canal – 205 km
9. NW-4 – Kakinada- Puducherry stretch of Canals and the Kaluvelly Tank, Bhadrachalam- Rajahmundry stretch of river Godavari and Wazirabad- Vijayawada stretch of river Krishna – 1078 km
10. NW-5 – Talcher-Dhamra stretch of rivers, Geonkhali- Charbatia stretch of East Coast Canal, Charbatia-Dhamra stretch of Matai river and Mahanadi Delta rivers (588 km)
11. The National Waterway (Lakhipur-Bhanga Stretch of the Barak River) Bill, 2013 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in 2013. The Bill proposes to declare and develop the 121km long Lakhipur-Bhanga stretch of the Barak river in Assam as National Waterway 6 – NW-6.
12. Government of India has passed a Bill in March 2016 to convent Rivers into National Waterways and 107 new Rivers one enlisted. These cover entire India but can be grouped as 45 in East 25 in South 25 in West 12 in North The total length of proposed up gradation of Rivers is more than 80000 Kms. (100 NWS 400 Km. average = 40000 4382 Km. for NW1 – NW5 Compare China`s 100000 Kms. ALSO INCLUDEED 30 INLAND PORTS, 3 MULTI MODAL HUBS (VARANASI, SAHIBGANJ,HALDIA) 20 25 25 45 ADDITIONTOTAL LENGTH OF NATIONAL WATER WAYS: > 30000 KM. Estimated
13. ECONOMY OF IWT ROAD RAIL IWT FUEL ECONOMY 1 LIT. of Fuel is Needed to do POWERE CONOMY 1 HP Can transport CARBON EMISSION 24 MT-KM 150 Kg. 71 gco2 Average 85 MT-KM 500 Kg. 105 MT-KM 400 Kg. 34 gCO2 Average
14. ECONOMY OF IWT ROAD RAIL IWT $ 300 $ 200 $ 100 1 BARGE 1500 MT COAL 75 Trucks APPROX $ 4,604 million annually At least $ 6 million annually In terms of human lives saved INFINITE COST OF TRANSPORTATION REDUCTION IN CONGESTION ON ROADS SAVINGS DUE TO PREVENTION OF FLOODS & DROUGHTS SAVINGS DUE TO LESSER ACCIDENTS ON ROAD
15. •Land acquisition , very difficult in India, will be required minimally •The Rivers provide ready, naturally available basic infrastructure •Active Public support and participation is expected as it generates employment during development and later.
16. Weakness •Huge initial capital expenditure is involved which almost exclusively is to be provided by the Government. •Coordination of a multiple of agencies from Central Govt. to local authorities will be required •Environmental degradation may be caused by the constructional activity. •Technical aspects including detailed River training, must be planned meticulously, It should also be supported by historical data and scientific future
17. Opportunities •To provide Cheaper transport particularly for certain goods thus give a boost to Rural Markets. •To reduce Consumption of fuel substantially. •To lower Carbon Foot print almost to 50%. •To increase Rural Connectivity by an alternative transport, familiar to rural folks. •To generate Employment in manufacturing & repairing boats, and in operation of the fleet, mainly tapping the rural un/under employed youth. •To enhance Environmental quality by large scale improvement of riverfronts •To provide recreational facilities
18. Threats •Money supply may not be adequate. As the developmental process will be almost totally controlled by public authorities, the process may be slow •Environmental objections may put up effective obstruction to the process of implementation. •Local politics may create problems.
19. Converting & up-gradation of 105 more natural Rivers to National Waterways is a socio political visionary plan requiring almost Rupees $ 80 Billions. ( Based on NWDA estimate of the ILR project. ) Technical & Economic viability must be established for each river project. For technical viability the following must be ensured: a) Water flow b) River training with all season minimum draft c) Well designed Locks d) Easy connectivity with roads and railways e) Secure, controlled time-bound navigation f) Functional design of vessels and terminal facilities Unviable projects are to be rejected. Indirect & intangible Social benefits must be taken into account.
20. A few years ago, a scheme called ‘Inter Linking of Rivers’ (ILR) was prepared. The declared goals were mainly: a) Inter-basin transfer of Water from flood - prone areas to drought-prone areas b) Storing excess Monsoon Water and preventing flood c) Generation of Hydro Electricity and d) Other Socio Economic benefits.
21. Transportation was not the key goal of ILR project. The project was then shelved perhaps considering possibilities of upheavals and public opposition to such transfer of water and large scale disturbance in natural environment. Expenditure involved was also a prohibitive factor.
22. While developing the Rivers into N- Ws, the necessity of providing inter regional connectivity should also be considered as a goal and a few LINKS as a part the PLAN can easily lead to a National Waterways Grid.
23. The following links can conceptually be proposed for detailed Techno - Economic survey. a) The Ganga – Narmada link using the river Sone b) The Ganga- Mahanadi link connecting the Western ports in the Arabian Sea and the Eastern ports in Bay of Bengal c) Rajasthan canal to link the Indus system with the Arabian Sea using local rivers such as Sabarmati thus connecting Agriculturally rich Punjab with Industrially vibrant
25. ECONOMIC REGENERATION AS A RESULT OF NEW ROLE FOR THE RIVER Economic Internal Rate of Return will be 17% 3000 new jobs for operation of each Kilometer of National Waterways. New jobs will be in vessel making, Repair, maintenance, transfer, etc., besides actual operation. Agricultural products will have easier market access. Equally the vast rural market will open up. A 10% increase in the villagers’ income will create a gigantic market.
26. Social Regeneration - new role for the RIVER RIVERS have traditionally been intricately linked with the social life in Rural India. RIVERS are greatly revered, few of them considered sacred.
27. Ganga-Narmada link (E-W) The Sone & The Narmada originate from the same range of the Vindhya Hills, the first one follows North – East to join the Ganga, (the ancient capital of Emperor Asoka – PATALIPUTRA – grew up at the confluence. The Sone and Ganga were highly navigable at that time of History and both were used intensely for trade as well as movement of people. The Narmada, considered almost as sacred as The Ganga, fall into bay of Khambat of Arabian Sea near the historic industrial centre of SURAT. The European merchants made it an important base. The East – West link between the Gujrat and the state of Jharkhand. Bihar & West Bengal can be thriving with commercial traffic.
28. NARMADA -MAHANADI EAST COAST CANAL LINK The link between the Eastern ports and the Western ports can be achieved by resurrecting the East Coast Canal (first built by British) from the Mouth of Ganga to Mahanadi in Odissa and extending it further to connect with Narmada. In a very long term vision an extension of the East Coast Canal to connect with the Godavari and the Krishna in southern Peninsula may be imagined . The Coastal inland Waterways provides a safe, all -weather trade - route avoiding turbulent Sea route and expensive port infrastructure.
29. RAJASTHAN CANAL – NARMADA LINK The Rajasthan Canal which was designed to be an irrigation canal to bring water to dry desert area of Rajasthan has the potential to become a highly successful transportation route connecting the agriculturally rich Punjab and Industrially vibrant Gujrat through this proposed link using the local rivers e.g. Sabarmoti
30. RIVERS provided the traditional recreational Social space with the increased activities Riverfronts should be the principal community space in both rural and urban settlements. RIVERS represented the link to the outer World for many remote villages, As National Waterways these will be truly so which will bring about Social change as a result of multi level interaction.
31. The National Waterways need to be complemented by a system of feeder canals in the form of minor rivers tributaries and /or many irrigation Canals. The Urban areas need to be carefully planned utilizing, as much as possible, the existing canals. It is important that these canals, existing and resurrected and new ones specially in emerging Urban areas, form a multi-functional system-for: a)Providing door to door transportation without transfer. b) Guiding Urban growth and industrial location. c) Enhancing environmental quality. d) Draining off and storing Rainwater. e) Supplying water for various civic uses,
32. NATIONAL WATERWAYS CONNECTING METROPOLITAN IN AREAS The Four Metropolitan areas of leading Cities of India demand such complementary action urgently. Mumbai has already progressed in utilising the Oceanic channels for metropolitan transport connectivity. NW system does not apply in its case. Recent floods. however point to the need for multifunctional use of waterways. Chennai’s devastating floods last year similarly point to the urgent need of resurrection of its Rivers and Canals in a planned way.
33. Kolkata which has a elaborate network of natural & manmade Waterways, besides Ganga, has taken a few small steps but still a long way to go in taking advantage of its unique heritage of waterways. Delhi has neglected its principal river Yamuna and must include waterways in its long-term planning. A comprehensive view of National Waterways, Regional Waterways, Metropolitan Waterways and rural Waterways must all be integral parts of the GRAND WATERWAYS PLAN OF INDIA. Sooner the better.
34. THANK YOU SPECIAL THANKS TO N.A.T.M.O. GOVT. OF INDIA FOR USE OF MAPS