Brahmaputra gets connected with Ganga via Indo Bangladesh Protocol Route
- The MV Lal Bahadur Shastri, an Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) vessel completed its pilot voyage from Bihar's Patna to the Pandu Port ferrying food grains via Bangladesh.
- The IWAI is also planning to run a fixed-schedule sailing between National Waterway- 1 and National Waterway-2 to foster inland water transport for Assam and the northeast.
India’s Inland Waterways
- India has around 14500 kilometers of navigable waterways, although they only contribute to roughly 1% of the country's transportation.
- Canal backwaters, rivers, and creeks, among many other sorts of water bodies, are included.
- Although 3700 km of major rivers are navigable by mechanized flat bottom vessels, only 2000 km are currently utilized.
- Mechanised vessels utilize just 900 km of the canal's 4800 km navigable length.
- The National Waterways Act,2016 helps manage the country's waterways.
- The government of India and the National Waterways Act created the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) for the regulation and development of the inland waterways used for navigation and shipping.
Inland Waterways Authority of India
- It was created in 1986
- It chiefly undertakes the development and maintenance projects of the Inland Waterways Transportation infrastructure.
- It takes on projects through grants from the Shipping ministry
Operational National Waterways in India
- NW – 1: river system- Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly
- Location: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal
- NW – 2: river system- Brahmaputra
- Location: Assam
- NW – 3: river system- West Coast Canal, Champakara Canal, and Udyogamandal Canal
- Location- Kerala
- NW – 4: river system-Krishna and the Godavari
- Location-Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry
- NW – 10: river system- Amba River
- Location: Maharashtra
- NW – 83: Rajpuri Creek
- Location: Maharashtra
- NW – 85: Revdanda Creek – Kundalika River System
- Location: Maharashtra
- NW – 91: Shastri river–Jaigad creek system
- Location: Maharashtra
- NW – 73: river system-Narmada River
- Location: Gujarat and Maharashtra
- NW – 100: river system-Tapi River
- Location: Gujarat and Maharashtra
- NW – 97: Sundarbans Waterways
- Location: West Bengal