Kolkata: The first ever containerised cargo movement via Indo-Bangladesh protocol route and Brahmaputra River started from Haldia on Monday.
"The 1425 km long movement is expected to establish the technical and commercial viability of Inland Water Transport (IWT) mode using these multiple waterways even as a series of pilot movements are planned on the stretch," said Gopal Krishna, secretary (Shipping) of the union government, after flagging off the inland vessel MV Maheshwari via video conferencing from Deep Bhawan at Taratolla Road.
The inland vessel is carrying 53 TEUs (containers) of petrochemicals, edible oil and beverage. The 12-15 day voyage will be an integrated IWT movement via National Waterway-1 (river Ganga), NW-97 (Sunderbans), Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route and NW-2 (river Brahmaputra).
While the latest IWT movement is aimed at providing a fillip to North East Region's industrial development by opening up an alternate route for transportation of raw material and finished goods, IWT on NW-1 has witnessed healthy growth with the augmentation of navigation capacity of Ganga under Jal Marg Vikas Project.
"Today (November 4, 2019) is historical day for Inland Waterways Authority of India. A landmark container cargo consignment will sail on the route from Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) to the Inland Waterways Authority of India terminal at Pandu. This apart, two other vessels (MV Aai and MV Beki) will take imported coal to Guwahati," said Shashi Bhushan Shukla, IRS Member (Traffic) of Inland Waterways Authority of India.
While the existing protocol routes are Kolkata-Pandu-Kolkata, Kolkata-Karimganj- Kolkata, Rajshahi-Dhulian-Rajshahi and Pandu-Karimganj-Pandu,
Kolaghat has recently been declared as the extended part of India-Bangladesh protocol (route) that is expected to transport cargo from March 2020.