Along with 6 other national rivers,Goa’s famous Mandovi and Zuari will be fast tracked for development as national waterways.
Chairperson of Indland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), Amitabh Verma recently disclosed that 8 rivers in the country have been shortlisted for immediate development as national waterways.
Apart from Mandovi and Zuari, other waterways include Barak in Assam, Ghaghara in Uttar Pradesh, Gandak and Kosi in Bihar and Mahanadi in Odisha. Other aspects of development of these waterways include creation of facilities like jetties, navigational aids and terminals to promote coastal shipping.
Amithab from IWAI said that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government for the development of Goa rivers is likely to be signed in a month’s time. While actual work is scheduled in November. As regards funding of the project, IWAI and the Goa Government will probably split the cost 50-50.
According to reports, 101 rivers of the country are to be nationalized. The primary reason for this project is to boost coastal shipping. Although 8 are short-listed to be developed immediately, the project will take awhile to complete.
