Night navigation boost for commodity movement

Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) will build a night navigation facility on National Waterway 1 between Farakka and Patna on the Ganges by end of this fiscal, reducing transit time by more than 60 per cent for high-volume and weight, but low-cost commodities like minerals and coal.

An inland water vessel (IWV) takes about 10 days to cover the distance between Patna in Bihar and Farkka in West Bengal at present. With night navigation facility in place, IWVs would be able to cover this 600km in less than seven days.

The time-distance between Haldia port and Patna, also on National Waterways -1, would fall to 10 days from 15 days at present.

K Shankar Narayanan, chairman of IWAI, said it would build infrastructure ahead of the cargo to attract users to this sector.

Cargoes which were not time sensitive were ideal for shipment by IWVs. These included minerals, cement, logs, building materials like sand and stone chips, and even agri-products like molasses along NW-1.

There are more than 10 handling terminals between Haldia and Patna.

IWAI is also building a twin-floor terminal at Patna to handle containers.

A similar concrete jetty is being constructed in Guwahati and this would enjoy rail connectivity.

These two projects would be fully functional in another two years.

"IWAI will invest in basic infrastructure as the private sector will not build them. Private investors can contribute by buying barges so that movement can be scaled up," he told Business Standard.

IWAI would use lighted country boats along the channel for night navigation instead of lighted buoys.

It would pay boat owners Rs 2,000 per month to maintain the lights.

The minimum distance between two boats would be one kilometre. Lighted buoy used to be stolen and the boats would solve the problem, he said.

IWAI has received a budgetary allocation from the Centre for infrastructure like night navigation, handling terminals and vessels.

Users here said night navigation would interest users to at least try out inland waterways instead of transport by road or rail.

"Once there is infrastructure and user interest, private sector barge operator will come forward," Narayanan added. He was in Kolkata to inaugurate a inland waterways traffic jetty in Howrah in association with Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT).