*

*

With the push of a button, Prime Minister @narendramodi inaugurates India's first multi-modal terminal. Watch Live… https://t.co/NFYvH2M9jJ — PIB India (@PIB_India) 1542017931000

*

*

*

*

The Ganga - Bhagirathi - Hooghly river system between Haldia (Sagar) and Allahabad (1620 km) was declared as National Waterway No 1 (NW-1) in 1986. Since then Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is carrying out various developmental works on the waterway for improvement of its navigability and development and maintenance of other infrastructure such as terminals and navigation aids as laid down in the IWAI Act, 1985.In the maiden container since Independence on inland vessel MV Rabindranath Tagore, food and beverages major PepsiCo moved its 16 containers — equivalent to 16 truckloads — from Kolkata to Varanasi. The vessel will make its return journey with fertilisers belonging to IFFCO that will be procured from its Phulpur plant near AllahabadThe NW1 would enable commercial navigation of vessels with capacity of 1500-2,000 DWT. It is being developed under the Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) from Haldia to Varanasi covering a distance of 1390 km. It is being developed with the technical and financial assistance of the World Bank at an estimated cost of Rs 5,369 crore on a 50:50 sharing basis.The container cargo transport comes with several inherent advantages — it reduces the handling cost, allows easier modal shift, reduces pilferage and damage, it also enables cargo owners to reduce their carbon footprints. The objective is to promote inland waterways as a cheaper and more environment-friendly means of transport, especially for cargo movement.The project entails construction of three multi-modal terminals (Varanasi, Sahibganj and Haldia); two intermodal terminals; five roll on-roll off (Ro-Ro) terminal pairs; new navigation lock at Farakka; assured depth dredging; integrated vessel repair and maintenance facility, differential global positioning system (DGPS), river information system (RIS), river training and river conservancy works, the release said.The project of multi-modal terminal and proposed freight village in Varanasi are expected to generate 500 direct employment and more than 2,000 indirect employment opportunities.