Developing Inland Waterways in Odisha
The following six waterways in the State of Odisha have been declared as National Waterways under the National Waterways Act, 2016.
National Waterway – 5 : Talcher-Dhamra stretch of Brahmani-Kharsua-Tantighai-Pandua Nala-Dudhei Nala-Kani Dhamra river system, Geonkhali-Charbatia stretch of East Coast Canal, Charbatia-Dhamra stretch of Matai River and Mahanadi Delta Rivers, with prescribed limits.
National Waterway – 14 : Baitarni River – The stretch between Dattapur village to confluence with Dhamra river near Laxmiprasad Dia.
National Waterway – 22 : Birupa-Badi Genguti-Brahmani river system- Birupa Barrage at Choudwar to confluence of Birupa and Brahmani rivers near Upperkai Pada village including alternative route from Samaspur village to near Kharagpur village.
National Waterway – 23: Budha Balanga River – Barrage at Patalipura village to confluence of Budha Balanga river with Bay of Bengal at Chandipur Fishing Port.
National Waterway- 64: Mahanadi River : Sambalpur barrage to Paradip.
National Waterway-96: Subarnrekha River – Chandil Dam to confluence with Bay of Bengal.
NW – 5 with a total length of 588 km consists of river and canal portion i.e. East Coast Canal. Presently, the development of river stretch of 333 km consisting of Brahmani, Kharsua & Delta River Systems of Mahanadi being economically viable has been taken up in two phases. The 203 km. stretch between Pankopal to Dhamra & Paradip port is being developed under Phase-I as per a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), Govt. of Odisha, Paradip Port Trust and Dhamra Port Co. Ltd. Activities such as fairway development mainly through dredging, and setting up of terminal facilities at Pankopal, Paradip and Dhamra are under progress. The 130 Kms stretch between Talcher to Pankopal is planned to be developed in Phase-II after the detailed technical and engineering studies are completed. The development of the East Coast Canal stretch is planned to be taken up once the feasibility studies proposed through World Bank assistance are completed which are expected to commence by July-2016.
On the remaining five National Waterways in Odisha, Stage-I study of two-stage Detailed Project Report (DPR) is in progress and draft feasibility reports are expected by end May, 2016. The 2nd stage DPR would be conducted on viable national waterways.
A provision of Rs. 9.5 crore has been allocated in BE of 2016-17 for the development of NW-5. On conclusion of the two stage studies which are ongoing at present, the actual fund requirement and allocation thereof will be decided for development of the remaining five national waterways.
This information was given by Minister of State for Shipping, Shri Pon Radhakrishnan in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.