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Cargo movement on Brahmaputra: still a long way to go

Barasha Das


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Guwahati: The 891 km of National Waterway no. 2 (NW-2) between Bangladesh and Sadiya is miserably underutilized despite its potential to connect the North East to the rest of the country through the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route.

In an IWAI study entitled "Modal shift of cargo passing through the Siliguri corridor destined for the North East and neighbouring countries to IWT" in 2017, approximately 49 MMTPA (Million Metric Tonnes per Annum) of cargo moved in and out of the North East Region, with approximately 30 MMTPA of cargo moving within the region.

"Approximately 8 MMTPA of cargo has the potential to be diverted to inland water transportation from the total quantities (IWT). According to the analysis, 3 million of the 8 MMTPA of divertible cargo heading for the NorthEast may be readily diverted to interior waterways. The remaining cargo's capacity to be diverted will be determined by freight incentives, service level offerings, the installation of suitable infrastructure on NW2, successful integration with NW1, and regulatory interventions ".

However, according to IWAI's Annual Report for 2020-21, NW-2 generated just 0.37 percent of national canal traffic. In the fiscal year 2016-17, the greatest yearly cargo carried across the Brahmaputra was little more than 6 lakh MT.

According to the Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region, the North East Region's riverine terrain has enormous potential for the development of inland water transport. IWT is a natural match with the bulk commodities that the Northeast buys from the rest of India (food grains, fertilisers, petroleum products) and exports (tea, oil, cement, and coal). All of these items are non-perishable, and their enormous volume makes IWT shipping more inexpensive than road or rail, but slower. However, the benefits of IWT, such as cheap cost, large volume, low fuel expenditure, and the shortest land distance between the North Eastern Region and the rest of the country, must be communicated to policymakers and consumers.

"IWT plans and investments must be rooted within a multi-modal transportation framework." "Because multi-modal transportation planning has yet to take off in NER, IWT's full potential has not been realised," according to the DoNER ministry.

Under the current administration, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, in collaboration with the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), has been pursuing substantial development projects to revitalise the river's use. With various infrastructure projects underway, Business Northeast looks back at freight flows on NW-2 over the previous few years as well as current developments.

Infrastructure on NW-2:

The waterway is functioning, with permanent jetties at Pandu and Dhubri, and floating jetties at Hatsingimari, Jogighopa, Pandu, Tezpur, Silghat, Biswanath ghat, Neamati, Bogibeel, Sengajan, Dibrugarh, and Oriumghat. Pandu, as a multimodal terminal, is linked to a broad-gauge railway line.

The Inland Water Authority of India (IWAI) performs river conservation activities such as dredging and bandalling during the non-monsoon months of October/November to March/April each year to improve and maintain the fairway (navigation channel).

Various businesses utilise the NW-2 to move freight in order to reduce overall logistics expenses.

Reviving the waterway:

Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, flagged off an inland waterway vessel carrying 182.38 metric tonnes (MT) of food grains from Patna to Guwahati on February 5. The ship sailed from Patna's MV Lal Bahadur Shastri to Guwahati's Pandu through Bangladesh. With this historic achievement, the Centre has ushered in a new age of progress for all Northeastern states.

"The waterways have now sliced through the landlocked access that has long hampered development in the region." "The canals not only eliminate this topographical impediment to the region's prosperity, but also enable inexpensive, quick, and comfortable transit for the region's enterprises and people," the Ministry noted.

"This is a historic moment for the whole Northeast as we begin on the most smooth cargo movement over the Brahmaputra," Sonowal remarked.

Following this, numerous further cargo movements on NW-2 were seen, including 1798.27 MT of TATA Tmt Bar and 1815.64 MT of coal Pandu to Kolkata. In reality, the MV Ram Prasad Bismil, which was carrying the steel cargo, became the longest vessel ever to cruise on the Brahmaputra. The 90-meter-long flotilla is 26 metres wide and has a 2.1-meter draught. The ship set off from Haldia Dock in Kolkata on February 16 with two barges, DB Kalpana Chawla and DB APJ Abdul Kalam, and arrived in Pandu port on March 15.

"IWAI has done a lot of developmental work on the National Waterway 2, and it can be used by anyone," A. Selvakumar, Director of Regional Office of IWAI, Guwahati, told Business Northeast. At the moment, the Dhubri Port handles a large number of exports on a regular basis. Even the Pandu Port is performing well in comparison to past years."

Speaking about the economic benefits of using waterways over roads in carrying extra cargo, the Director stated, "To move 600 tonnes of products using roads, it will take roughly 60 trucks." In contrast, it only takes one vessel one voyage to transport the same amount of material. The time required is definitely greater, but you cannot refute the cost-effective aspect.

Selvakumar stated that IWAI has inked memorandums of understanding (MoU) with Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited to transfer their plastic goods and with Numaligarh Refinery Limited to move petroleum by-products.

"NRL would require infrastructure for the terminal to transfer their logistics, and we are still building a terminal at Jogighopa." It will take roughly a year and a half to get up and running. However, the BCPL will be relocating shortly."

Barasha Das