INLAND TRANSPORTATION

21 January 2023 13:04

Rivers, lakes, canals, backwaters and reservoirs primarily constitute source for inland waterways(IW). A stretch of water, not part of the
sea, over which craft of a carrying capacity not less than 50 tonnes can navigate when normally loaded is called navigable IW.

India's Potential
1. Navigable water and transportation: India over 14500 km of waters that can be navigated which accounts only for about 1% of the
country's transportation. This includes canal backwaters, rivers and creeks amongst many other types of water bodies.
2. Small contribution of inland transport: Only small percentage of trade is currently carried
out through IW and coastlines.IW transport account for about 0.4% of trade and yet to be explored.
3. Logistic cost: account for about 18% of the country's GDP, which is much higher than other countries. This makes Indian goods
costlier and hence less competitive. LC in country brought down considerably by transporting more and more goods by waterways.
4. Potential: IW potential of emerging as leading logistical artery for entire India, which pass through India's most densely populated
areas and resource-rich regions, and generates an estimated 40% of India's traded goods.
5. Market access: network of a water-road-rail link will help the region's industries and manufacturing units to have a seamless flow of
goods to markets in India and abroad. Further, it give wider market access to farmers of this agriculturally-rich Gangetic plain.

Benefits of Inland Waterways Transport

1. Fuel efficient:IWT is considered to be the most cost-effective mode of transport from point of view of fuel efficiency
EX: Acc to WB, 1 liter of fuel moves 105 ton-km by IW but only 85 ton-Km by rail and 24 ton-Km by road.
2. Low cost:IW need less capital for development and less maintenance costs.
EX: Cost of IWT is nearly 0.25 Rs/km, of rail is 1.5 Rs/km while that of road transport is 2.5 Rs/km.
3. Fewer emissions: CO2 Emission from container vessels range much lesser than road transport vehicles.
4. Navigable: Around 14,500 km of river channels are navigable.
5. Export Promotion: Lower factor costs will make our exports more competitive.
6. Decongestion:Decongest our choked highways and overburdened railways. There will be fewer accidents also.
7. Better connectivity: Create seamless interconnectivity connecting hinterlands along navigable river coasts and coastal routes. Further,
riverine routes are likely to play a crucial role in connecting NE states to the mainland
8. Job opportunity: Development of IW will help in the generation of job opportunities.
9. Growth:Development of waterways will stimulate industrial growth and tourism. It will also promote export and import as it reduces LC
of moving cargo between ports and hinterland. Fewer accidents and less congestion compared to roads.
10. High capacity: It has an enormous capacity to carry bulk cargo, goods etc.

Challenges
1. Low transport speed: not suitable where time is an important factor.
2. Limited area of operation: depending on infrastructural premises and depth of waterways
3. Lack of end point service: only very few cases in which IWT can offer door-to-door transport of cargo
4. Operational disruptions:weather is a major disadvantage
5. Water level issue: Erection of river canals and drawing of water from river reduces the water level.
6. Geographical hurdle: Larger river such as Ganga and Brahmaputra create delta in their mouth, shallow water, and delta in the mouth
of river make unsuitable to connection with ocean.
7. Problem with west flowing river: meets the sea with estuary but river length is short, steep gradients, frequent waterfall makes
unsuitable for inland transportation.
8. Siltation: Problem of siltation because of the high amount of load that Himalayan rivers bring.
9. Shortage of MRO facilities: There is severe shortage of MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) facilities for IWT vessels.
Lack of funds: Dredging as well as infrastructure for IWT requires huge investments. However,both public and private funding in the
sector is low
10. Shortage of IWT vessels: Vessel building is highly capital intensive and faces difficulties in obtaining project finance from banks and
financial institutions

Measures Taken for the Development of Inland Transport

1. Legislation:
• Inland Waterways Authority of India Act, 1985:
1. The Act provides for the constitution of an IWA for regulation and development of IW for purposes of shipping and navigation and
for matters related to it.
2. It undertakes projects for development and maintenance of IWT infrastructure on national waterways through grant received from
Ministry of Shipping
• Indian Vessels Act of 1917 (amended in 2007): It deals with the survey and registration of inland vessels, removal of obstructions in

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 • Indian Vessels Act of 1917 (amended in 2007): It deals with the survey and registration of inland vessels, removal of obstructions in
navigation, carriage of goods and passengers,prevention and control of pollution etc.
• Inland Water Transport Policy 2001: Policy talks about IWT being economic, fuel- efficient and environment friendly mode of
transport. It advocates large-scale private sector participation both for creation of infrastructure and for fleet operations.
• National Waterways Act 2016: The Act declared 111 rivers or river stretches, creeks,estuaries as National (inland) Waterways. It
enables the Central Government to regulate these waterways for development with regard to shipping, navigation and transport
through mechanically propelled vessels.
• Laws related to environmental and other impacts: Forest Act 1980, Environmental Protection Act 1986 and various notifications
under it like EIA Notification 2006, CRZ Notification 20112.

2. Initiatives:
• Jal Marg Vikas Project: aims at capacity augmentation of navigation on NW-1. The project is being implemented by GOI with
technical assistance and investment support of World Bank.
• Sagarmala Project: Along with development of coast shipping routes, project seeks to IW to drive industrial development. It aims to
reduce the logistics costs by doubling the share of domestic waterways in the modal mix from current 6 %.
• Interlinking of Rivers Programme: project is expected to offer potential benefits to thetransport sector through navigation.

Way Forward
1. Basic infra development: Measures should be taken to develop basic infrastructure, address technological bottlenecks and
maintenance of rivers to ensure year-round navigability
2. Passenger terminal development: Government should develop passenger terminal development, offer financial support to ferry
operators to improve safety, and facilitate insurance coverage to boost passenger transport
3. Strengthening public-private partnership: Has the key role to play in developing the IW sector. Private players can undertake terminal
development, cargo and passenger handling, and building low-draft vessels and related repair facilities.
4. Multi-modal project: Measures should be taken to taken to ensure availability of seamless, multimodal last-mile connectivity to and
from hinterland to reduce trans-shipment cost and make in land water transport economically more viable.
5. Follow International Best Practice
China: China has an IW system of more than 5600 navigable rivers and 2000 inland ports. IWT development is concentrated on 5 specific
areas (Yangtze river, Pearl River, Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta).
China with the aid of World Bank has taken major initiatives to boost IWT:
• Development of power generating dams, by-passing ship locking systems, and a deeperwaterway throughout the system permitting
large vessels to undertake trade.
• Three Gorges project: It aims at improving electric power and navigation safety and reduce transportation costs; and development
along the Hang-Yong Canal, connecting a network of six rivers to Yangtze Rive

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