Jal Marg Vikas Project

The Jal Marg Vikas Project has been commissioned for capacity augmentation of NW–1 (river Ganga) from Haldia to Varanasi with an objective to facilitate movement of 1,500 – 2,000 tonne vessels.The project has been undertaken with the technical and financial support of the World Bank at an estimated cost of Rs. 4,200 crore. The project is scheduled to be completed in six years.Under this project, various sub projects include, fairway development and construction of multimodal terminals at Varanasi, Sahibganj and Haldia and a new navigation lock at Farakka.On NW-2 (river Brahmaputra) a Ro-Ro service has started and a ship repair facility is being constructed at Pandu (Guwahati).

The project envisages various sub-projects such as fairway development, navigational aids, construction of multi-modal terminals at Varanasi, Sahibganj and Haldia, construction of new navigational lock at Farakka, bank protection work, LNG vessels, etc. The status of development of sub-projects is as below:

National Waterway -4

• The stretch between Muktyala to Vijayawada of NW – 4 is being planned for immediate operation for which dredging works to remove shallow patches has been awarded.

National Waterway -5

• The dredging operation in the non-tidal stretch between Erada to Padanipal has commenced.
• Lease agreement has been signed for 6.79 acres of land for setting up of temporary terminal facility at Erada.