Centre approves Rs 461 cr development project of National Waterway-2

The centre has approved a development project of the National Waterway-2 (Brahmaputra river) for Rs 461 crore from 2020-21 to 2024-25. According to a release by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, establishing a ship repair facility at the Pandu port for Rs 72.6 crore is among one of the components of the projects, it is beneficial as North Eastern Region (NER) doesn’t have any vessel repair facility having dry docking. The most important location on NW-2 is the Multi-Modal Terminal at Pandu Port for the development of a multimodal river port. Therefore, a master plan was prepared for the development of the terminal in phases, and developments were carried out accordingly. In 2009 a low-level jetty for Rs 40.02 crore was made operational. Additionally, during 2014-15 a high-level jetty of Rs 43.89 crore was made operational with a mechanical handling facility and containers. A broad-gauge railway siding that connects Pandu port with the Kamakhya railway station, Guwahati is constructed via NF Railway for Rs 16.46 crore and has been opened by Northeast Frontier (NF) Railway for commercial operation in 2013. An agreement was signed between NF Railway and Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) for utilising the BG Siding for Cargo movement by a third party to boost inland navigation in the North East. For the improvement of connectivity between NW-1 and NW-2/NW-16 through the Indo Bangladesh protocol, the routes are currently being jointly developed by the government of India and Bangladesh. Image SourceAlso read: New shipping route to link north-east India with West Bengal