UPSC Mains 2016 GS1 Q19: Problems and Prospects of Inland Water Transport in India

A National Waterway is a river, canal, or backwater stretch declared navigable by the Union government. India currently has 111 declared National Waterways.

The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), set up in 1986, develops and regulates this network, handling dredging, terminal building, and navigation aids.

National Waterway 1 runs along the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly system, from Prayagraj to Haldia, at about 1,620 km. It is India’s longest declared waterway.

River depth varies sharply between monsoon and dry season. Stretches easily navigable in the monsoon often become too shallow for loaded vessels later in the year.

Rivers like the Ganga carry heavy silt loads that build up on the riverbed. Keeping a channel navigable requires continuous, costly dredging, not a one-time fix.

Structures built for irrigation and flood control, like the Farakka Barrage, can obstruct free navigation. Waterway planning has to work around these existing structures, not against them.

A navigable river alone isn’t enough. Efficient cargo handling needs multi-modal terminals connecting the waterway to road and rail, and this infrastructure has historically lagged behind the declared network.

Moving cargo by river costs less per tonne-kilometre than road, and often less than rail too, for bulk goods like coal, cement, and foodgrains.

Inland water transport burns less fuel per tonne of cargo moved than road transport, cutting both logistics cost and carbon emissions when freight shifts to water.

The World Bank-assisted Jal Marg Vikas Project upgrades NW-1’s navigability between Haldia and Varanasi, funding multi-modal terminals including at Varanasi and Sahibganj.

Every tonne moved by river is a tonne that doesn’t add to already-congested road and rail corridors, especially valuable on routes running near capacity.

State the current network scale and IWAI’s role, then weigh the physical/infrastructure problems against the cost, emissions, and congestion-relief prospects, closing on ongoing upgrade efforts like Jal Marg Vikas.