CHAPTER 7
INLAND WATER TRANSPORT
7.1 INTRODUCTION
Inland waterways have provided crucial arteries for communication and trade for millions
of rural people since before the invention of the wheel. Yet in today's transport climate
dominated by mechanised vehicles and roads, traditional water thoroughfares have been
neglected and de-prioritised.
Inland water transport (IWT) in rural areas primarily consists of small, unmechanised
country crafts/boats or canoes, which ply the river and canal networks. These 'country
boats' are usually multi-tasking for a variety of users, providing; transport services,
trading opportunities, employment & food through fishing & access to markets.
7.2 INLAND WATER TRANSPORT IN INDIA
India has 14,500 km of navigable inland waterways comprising of river system, canal,
backwaters, creeks and tidal inlets. About 5200 km of major rivers and 485 km of canals
are suitable for mechanised crafts. Even these navigable waterways lack the needed
infrastructure such as navigational aids, terminals and communication facilities. The total
cargo moved by inland water transport is about 20 million tonnes corresponding to just
over 1.5 billion tonne km or 0.15 percent of the total inland cargo of about 877 billion
tonne km, the balance being moved by road, rail and pipelines.
The stretch of water way from Allahabad to Kolkata on the river Ganges (1620 km), the
stretch from Sadiya to Dhubri on the river Brahmaputra (891 km) and the West Coast
canal from Kottapuram to Kollam including the Champakara and Udyogamandal canals
(205 km) have been declared as National Waterways I, II and III respectively. Kakinada-
Marakkanam on the Godavari and Krishna rivers is likely to be declared as National
waterway IV in the 10th plan. Other waterways that have potential for being declared as
national waterways are Sundarbans, Mahanadhi, Narmada, Mandovi, Zuari rivers,
Cumberjua canal in Goa and Tapi.
The criteria laid down for declaration of national waterway are
a) it should be capable of navigation by mechanically propelled vessels of a
reasonable size;
b) it should have 45 m wide channel with a minimum depth of 1.5 m;
c) it should be continuous stretch of 50 km except in urban areas;
d) it should pass through and serve the interest of more than one state, connect vast
hinterland and major ports and connect places not served by any other modes of
transport.
The above guidelines were formulated by the National Transport Policy Committee
Report (1980) recommending various measures for development of IWT in the country.
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7 - 2
7.2.1 National Waterway I
On National Waterway I, the Least Available Depth (LAD) of 2 m between Haldia and
Patna, and of 1.5 m between Patna and Varanasi is being maintained for major part of the
year. Day channel marking is provided and maintained. The Central Inland Water
Transport Corporation (CIWTC) and private operators such as M/s Vivada Inland
Waterways Ltd., Kolkata operate river services on National Waterway .I.
Terminals
Terminals, for loading / unloading of cargo exist at Haldia, Kolkata, Pakur, Farakka,
Karagola, Bhagalpur, Munger, Patna and Allahabad.
Navigational facilities
The stretch between Kolkata-Haldia and Farakka is navigable because of the lock gate
system of Kolkata port and the IWAI lock gate at Farakka, which ensures water
availability downstream to Kolkata. The stretch further upstream from Farakka to Patna is
navigable though the depth available is only about 4 to 4.5 m during the winter. During
the summer when the Ganges is in full flow causing floods in the region, the depths are
more rising upto 10-12 m. The width also narrows and enlarges pushing the banks in and
out as the flow decreases or increases. This is one of the reasons for preferring floating
terminals on this stretch. Patna to Allahabad stretch is also navigable though it has only
1.5 m depth but no cargo movement takes place on this stretch.
Night navigation facilities of the conventional battery operated type buoys provided on
this waterway, but are invariably stolen resulting in non-availability of facilities for night
navigation. The beacon type markers used in the NW III that are less susceptible to thefts
may provide the right solution for this problem.
Cargo Owners
Some of the major stakeholders in moving the cargo on this waterway include Hindustan
Lever Ltd., Ambuja Cements, Tirupati Vancom Ltd., Lafarge Cement, P K S Ltd. Saf –
Fermion besides Public sector companies like HFCL, IOCL, Haldia Petrochemicals, FCI,
ONGC, Hindustan Paper Corporation etc.
Vessel Operators
The vessels on this waterway are mainly operated by CIWTC and Vivada Inland
Waterways.
The Government owned CIWTC operates as many as:
• 16 self propelled (twin screw) vessels of 600 – 800 T capacity having two
cargo holds and driven by 940 HP Yanmar / KOEL / Cummins engines
• 58 dumb barges of 750 T in 4 holds
• 6 twin screw tugs (towing boats) having 900 HP engines and
• 4 POL carriers of 600 / 1200 / 1500 T capacity (used for transportation of
POL from Haldia to Budge-Budge
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7 - 3
• 10 Flat deck barges with no cargo holds also known as OTC (On Top
Carriers) suitable for transportation of containers, heavy machinery and
Project materials. (Four of these are of 1914 construction, Two of 1920
and the rest of 1925/30)
It is learnt that CIWTC proposes to charter out 23 vessels to private parties. Vivada
Inland waterways earlier operated vessels between Haldia-Kolkata and Budge-Budge for
transportation of POL products. This movement is now carried out through pipelines.
7.2.2 National Waterway II
On National Waterway II, LAD of 2 m is being maintained between Dhubri-Neamati for
most part of the year and day channel marking is being maintained. The CIWTC Ltd. and
the Government of Assam operates river services on the Brahmaputra. The cargo is also
moved on India - Bangladesh route. For transportation of inland waterway cargo between
Kolkata and North-Eastern region and EXIM cargo to/from Bangladesh, 'Transit and
Trade Protocol Arrangement' between India and Bangladesh exists.
Terminals
The Terminals on this waterway are at Dhubri, Pandu, Tezpur, Neamati, Dibrugarh and
Sadiya. Floating Terminals with loading / unloading facilities exist at Dhubri, Jogighopa
and Pandu. Pandu (Guwahati) is an important terminal on this waterway and therefore a
permanent inter-modal terminal is being established.
Navigational facilities
The entire stretch of the waterway has a navigable depth of 2 m with night navigation
facilities being implemented on a stretch of 260 km between Dhubri and Pandu.
Extension of similar facilities upstream is on the anvil.
Cargo Owners
HPCL, Numaligarh refineries are some of the cargo interests in the region besides CEA,
Cement manufacturers and Government Departments, Assam Petrochemicals and various
project implementation agencies.
Vessel Operators
CIWTC and Government of Assam operate vessels on this waterway. Vessel operations
to & from the terminals on this waterway to Haldia and Kolkata on NW I involves
navigation through Bangladesh and to facilitate the same, a 'Transit and Trade Protocol
Arrangement' between India and Bangladesh exists that is periodically renewed.
7.2.3 National Waterway III
On National Waterway III, LAD of 2 m and day channel marking have been provided and
maintained in Udyogmandal and Champakkara canals. IWT terminals exist at Kochi port,
Udyogmandal, Ambalamugal, Edapallikotta etc. that are owned and maintained by the
bulk cargo owners.
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Terminals
This waterway comprises of the West Coast canal from Kottapuram to Kollam (168 km),
Udyogamandal canal (23 km) and Champakkara canal (14 km). 11 other terminals that
are proposed to be set up on the waterway are Kottapuram, Aluva, Vaikom, Cherthala,
Thirukkunnapuzha, Kayamkulam, Chavara, Kollam, Ernakulam-CEPZ, Ernakulam-
MARADU and Alapuzha. Currently, 4 terminals exist at Kochi port, Udyogamandal,
Ambalamugal and Edapallikotta, all owned and operated by bulk cargo owners. Of the 11
proposed terminals Kottapuram and Aluva have been completed and expected to be
operational by September / October 2003. The facilities created are concrete wharf 30m x
10 m, covered godown 400 sq. m. and back up area of 400 sq.m. Minor works like
electrification, earth filling, etc. are in progress.
4 more terminals at Vaikkam, Chertala, Thirukkunnapuzha are under construction and are
expected to be ready by 2004. The terminals at Chavara, Kollam CEPZ and MARADU
have already been sanctioned and work has been taken up. The terminal at Alapuzha
proposed by IWAI/ Kerala Government is at Mullakkal. The alternate site suggested by
the stakeholders is Pallaphruti, which is 3 km upstream. IWAI has found this site to be
unavailable for development. The cargo owners who have captive terminals are Binani
Zinc, FACT, TCCL and Indal on Udyogamandal canal and FACT, oil companies like
BPCL on the Champakkoda canal.
Navigation facilities
Night navigation facility over the entire 205 km of the waterway is available now with
beacon type lights, which have a range of 3 km. The depth available in the waterway is
2.2 m from the CD (chart datum) level. This will be a 0.4 m to 0.6 m below mean sea
level. The tide variation is 1 m maximum. It is proposed to extend the NW III from
Kottapuram to Kasargod (391 km) and Kollam to Kovalam (78 km). The extension
involves widening in some places, deepening in some others and digging canals to
connect the lakes and other backwater lagoons. For this purpose the Kerala Government
has already requested the central government and the IWAI to take up the extension of
the national waterway. Land acquisition and other related works have been undertaken by
the Karnataka Government to facilitate the extension. The estimated cost of development
is Rs. 10.32 crores for dredging 21 lakh cubic metre and acquisition of land for 11
terminals. CPWD will invest Rs. 14.84 crores for construction of terminals. Installation
of night navigation facilities will require Rs.3.21 crores.
Cargo Owners
Fertilisers and Chemicals of Travancore Ltd. (FACT) have two consumer divisions one at
Udyogamandal and the other at Ambalamugal. It has three production divisions viz.,
Cochin division, Udyogamandal division and Petrochemical division. FACT is one of the
major industries of Kerala and the most active user of national waterway. The raw
materials imported are sulphur and rock phosphate. FACT has exclusive berths at Cochin
port where the above raw materials are unloaded for storing in godowns before being
loaded on to barges for transportation to consumer division. The quantities imported
during 2002-03 are: rock phosphate (2,76,447 tonnes), sulphur (2,01,222 tonnes).
Benzene is also consumed at the rate of 50,000 tonnes per year which, t is moved by
coastal ships from Haldia Petrochemicals and Reliance refineries at Jamnagar. Some of
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the finished products moved on the waterway are liquid ammonia and phosphoric acid.
Liquid ammonia is transported from Udyogamandal to Ambalmugal in tanker barges in
refrigerated containers. The parcel size is about 270 tonnes and frequency of
transportation is 2 barge loads per day. These barges are operated by A. B. Cursetjee &
Sons. Fertiliser products are primarily moved by road because of the fact that almost all
the marketing depots are spread widely in the interior parts of all the southern states. As
products packed in 50 kg and the parcel sizes are not very large and the distances
involved are the least by road, the preference of road transport is primary. Even rail
transport is not preferred because it involves double handling but where railway sidings
are available this mode is utilised. Coastal shipping is out of question as it involves
several handling, storage and infrastructure including manpower requirements at ports
plus all the hazels related today. Moreover coastal shipping option does not eliminate the
need to move to ultimate destinations (depots), which are connected only by road.
Vessel Operators
1. Kerala State Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) is under the coastal shipping
and inland navigation department in the Ministry of Irrigation of Government of
Kerala. KSINC has a fleet of 3 POL barges of 200 tonnes each, 4 water barges
(300 / 2x200/ 85 tonnes capacity), 3 bulk carrier barges (2x350/1x300 tonnes) and
one phosphoric acid barge of 100 tonnes capacity. The KSINC is involved in
bunkering operations for IOCL at Cochin port supplying FO/HSD to vessels,
transportation of rock phosphate and sulphur for FACT. KSINC moved about
60,000 tonnes per annum of HSD during 1994-2000 from Kochi to Edapallykota
(138 km) for the HPCL Depot. The KSINC also operated coastal vessels
chartering Great Eastern vessels. They found the venture to be uneconomical due
to non-availability of return cargo, high water hire rates of Rs.90000 per day for
vessel with low cargo carrying capacity. The stevedoring cost at Cochin is about
Rs.135 per tonne and at GMB ports about Rs.180 per tonne. The KSINC also
operates 12 passenger vessels between Ernakulam and Vypeen islands. They also
operate 2 vehicle ferries, which can carry about 9 trucks.
2. LOTS Shipping are private operators who have a fleet of 5 dry cargo barges that
carry about 700 tonnes of cargo each. They transport rock phosphate and sulphur
for FACT and zinc Binani Zinc Ltd. With private operators coming in, the freight
of transportation of rock phosphate and sulphur came down to Rs. 44 per tonne
from about Rs.90 a tonne by KSINC. The road freight is also Rs.91 per tonne.
Because of lighter weight of the raw materials about 550 tonnes are carried on a
single trip, which takes only 20 to 25 minutes from the Cochin harbour. The
discharge time may vary from 8 to 16 hours. Depending on various factors on an
average a barge makes one trip a day.
3. ABC: A. B. Cursetjee & Sons who own about 4 specialised barges transport
liquid ammonia for FACT
4. Other Operators:
The above agencies / operators are in the organised sector whereas a number of
small vessels called kettu vallam and vallam in unorganised sector carry cargo
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which are mostly agriculture products, fish products, building materials and other
general cargo. The annual cargo transported is about 10 lakh tonnes.
Cochin Port Trust has also conducted studies for integrating the port with IWT for
movement of containers between Kochi and the southern towns Kollam & Alappuzha.
7.2.4 Other Waterways
The following waterways have been studied and identified by National Transport Policy
Committee (1980) as important waterways for IWT.
• 640 km from Hoshangabad to Bharuch on the Narmada River in Gujarat
• 418 km from Sambalpur to Paradip on the Mahanadi River in Orissa
• 260 km from Talcher to Dhamra to Paradip on Brahmani River in Orissa
• 208 km from Rajamundry to Cherla on the Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh
• 197 km From Namkhana to the Bangladesh border on the Sunderbans river &
creeks system in West Bengal
• 193 km from Nagarjuna Sagar dam to Vijayawada on the Krishna River in
Andhra Pradesh
• 122 km from Usgaon to Sea mouth and Sanvardan to Marmugao on the
Mandovi and Zuari Rivers & Cumberjua canal in Goa
• 25 km from Surat to the Sea mouth on the Tapti River in Gujarat
Of the above waterways, cargo activities are carried out on the Mandovi, Zuari Rivers in
Goa.
Goa Waterways
The Goa Waterways comprise of 41 km stretch of Mandovi River from Usgaon to
Arabian Sea mouth with Panaji located on its south bank, 64 Km stretch of Zuari River
from Sanvardan to Marmugao and 17 Km long Cumberjua Canal running north-south and
connecting the two rivers.
Mormugao is the largest iron ore exporting port in the country, accounting for nearly 50
percent of the total iron ore exported. Iron ore is mined by various companies in the
private sector, the largest ones being Sesa Goa, Chowgules, V.M. Salgaocar, V.S. Dempo
and Fomento etc. and transported by barges through the Mandovi and Zuari Rivers to be
eventually loaded to large sized capesize and panamax vessels.
There are two ways of loading these large sized vessels. One way is to bring the mother
vessel to the berth that is exclusively used for loading of iron ore, or to load the vessel at
the anchorage point by the help of transshipers. The iron ore export industry has led to
growth of a mature barging industry with more than 150 barges of size reaching 3,000
DWT at times.
The State government is exploring the possibility of utilising inland waterways, which are
endowed with a network of rivers for transportation of goods and commodities into Goa
besides utilising it as an additional and cheaper means of passenger transportation within
the State of Goa. Though the departments involved with inland waterways are still
working out details and modalities, an important route on the list is the Panaji-Vasco
Chapter 7: Inland Water Transport
7 - 7
route while another is the Panaji-Sanquelim. Water transport from Panaji to Sanquelim is
around 22 kilometers as against road transport calculated at 45 kilometers. Strengthening
waterways traffic to ensure safety, rules for licensing are also being worked on and
strengthening of infrastructure namely jetties, dredging of rivers, communication systems
etc. are also being considered.
The Barak
The Barak River, which originates near Liyai village in north Senapati district of Manipur
and joins with the mighty Brahmaputra River in the lower plains of Assam and ultimately
flows into the Bay of Bengal, is an important feature of Manipur's geophysical and geosociopolitical
aspects.
A number of tributaries contribute to the Barak. One of its important tributary is the
Tuivai River, which flows in Churachandpur district in a south-south-western direction
before joining the Barak at Tipaimukh. Another of the important attributing tributary is
the Irang River, which flows through Senapati and Tamenglong districts. Other tributaries
are the Jiri and the Makru rivers.
The Barak and its tributaries are relatively calm and flow smoothly during the lean
season, whereas they turn into turbulent rivers during the monsoons or as in periods of
continuous rainfall for 3 to 4 days.
The total length of the Barak is about 900 km. The river Barak used to be important
waterway in the past. Even today country boats for trade and commerce use it for
transportation and exporting of ginger and bamboo products to Assam via Tipaimukh,
Jiri Ghat and Lakhimpur. The traditional system of ferrying by bamboo rafts is the most
economical means of river transportation adopted here.
7.3 Cargo Traffic on IWT
The total cargo moved by IWT is about 20 million tonnes corresponding to just over 1.5
billion tonne km or 0.15 percent of the total inland cargo of about 1000 billion tonne km,
the balance being served by the road and rail.
The cargo carried on the National Waterways I, II & III and other Rivers like Mandovi &
Zuari and Barak are given in Table 7.1.
