Charting the unchartered

Inland Water Transport - Charting the Uncharted

Inland Waterways is a highly underutilized mode of freight transportation and is overwhelmed by road and rail modes of transportation. But this mode is being positioned as part of India’s larger infrastructure and logistics-focused policies.

BY AMSHIKA BRIGIT GEORGE

Freight movement in India is highly skewed in favour of road transport (60%), while inland waterways and coastal movement of cargo remain in the nascent stage (ADB, 2020). But there have been efforts to promote Inland Water Transport (IWT) in the 111 waterways (declared as NWs under the National Waterways Act, 2016), from which 25 NWs have been determined to be technically and economically feasible through Detailed Project Reports (DPRs).

Inland Waterways Authority of India has set a five-year vision to develop IWT as a self-sustaining, economical, safe, and environmentfriendly supplementary mode of transport to achieve the larger growth goals of the economy. It aims to increase the share of IWT from the current figure of 2% to 2.5% in bulk and containerized cargo shipment. As part of the Maritime India Vision 2030, IWAI aims to operationalize 23 waterways by enhancing terminal and allied infrastructure, navigational aids, and RIS provisioning.

Development of the terminal will also include creation of concrete/ steel, and floating platoon jetties on specific circuits for river cruise tourism. The vision also includes development of more than 10 Ro-Ro terminals and ferry terminal development in over 60

BULK CARGO TRANSPORT VIA WATERWAYS OF COAL, FLY-ASH & ORE IS ECONOMICAL AND ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY

locations with state government collaborations. Ample opportunities have been identified by IWAI to allow for greater collaboration with private players, thereby opening the doors wider for IWT.

Bulk cargo transport through waterways of coal, fly-ash, and iron ore are economical, environment friendly, and less polluting than Road and Rail modes of transport. As on date, 15 NWs are operational, 7 projects are in appraisal stage, development of 2 NWs has been taken up as per the State Financial Corporation (SFC) directives for FY 2021 to FY 2025, and development of 1 NW has been taken up with technical and investment support from World Bank.

MULTI-MODAL APPROACH In a bid to herald in a new age for Multi-Modal Connectivity, PM Narendra Modi launched

the Gati Shakti National Master Plan on October 13, 2021 to provide a digital platform that can enable 16 ministries including Railways, Roadways, Civil Aviation among others to come together for integrated planning and implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects.

Various infrastructure schemes of the Central Ministries and State Governments such as the Sagarmala, Bharatmala, inland waterways, UDAN, etc. have been linked together to comprehensively and systematically review and monitor the progress of crosssectoral projects. Various economic zones and clusters across sectors such as pharmaceuticals, defense, electronics, industrial corridors, fisheries, and agriculture zones have been covered to facilitate connectivity, reduce logistical costs, and increase global competitiveness.

GROWTH TRENDS

Latest data on cargo movement through National Waterways and linked coastal waterways reported a growth rate of 1.5% from FY 201420 and a 13.5% annual growth rate in FY 2021 over the previous year, according to government data.

The increased volume of cargo shipment through IWT has been attributed to the concerted efforts of the Government to actively develop water highways and bring down costs of transportation. According to the RITES Report (2014) on “Integrated National Waterways Transportation Grid”, a comparative intermodal cost has been computed per tonne-km across Railways, Highways, and IWT, which has determined IWT to be the cheapest mode of cargo transportation at Rs. 1.06 relative to Rs. 1.41 and Rs. 2.58 as post-service tax freight charges for Railways and Highways respectively.

Through World Bank assistance, collaboration on development of NW 1 aims to enable upgradation/ modernization of the Farakka lock to shorten waiting time to cross the lock and enable two-way traffic through the narrow passage. Additionally, setting up of River Information System (RIS) is also included in development activities of NW 1 to allow tracking of vessels by barge-operators and cargo-owners, planned berthing of vessels for improved logistical ease, installing navigation facilities, and devising emergency protocols.

CONSTRAINTS IN IWT

One of the major challenges faced by IWTs is the limited navigable inland waterways which are dependent on a minimum water depth level. Due to the seasonal nature of rivers, the depth of water varies, causing limitations to be imposed on shipping and traffic of large cargo barges to be restricted

IWT HAS BEEN DETERMINED TO BE THE CHEAPEST MODE OF TRANSPORATION IN PER TON-KM WHEN COMPARED WITH RAILWAYS AND HIGHWAYS BY RITES

to limited stretches of the river with a water depth of 2.5 m to 3 m being maintained perennially. Hence, large-scale dredging is frequently required to support movement of large barges as well as actively maintain water levels.

Development of IWT and adoption of hi-tech technologies (such as RIS) requires a massive inflow of investments from both public and private sectors. There is a fund requirement for highly capital-intensive vessel building activities and for setting up of MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul) facilities for vessels. A well-functioning multi-modal digital platform for comprehensive development of the logistics management system necessitates the use of sophisticated and hitech organizational systems, digital transformation, technical professionals, and a high degree of inter-ministerial and departmental coordination at different levels. Attractive incentive measures would need to be in place to galvanize investments and promote trade.

Thirdly, concentration of waterway routes due to geographical and topographical conditions makes penetration of water transport mode challenging. Moreover, development of multimodal transit hubs for a smooth transition of cargo and passengers from one mode of transport to another seamlessly, well-equipped cargo handling facilities, transit sheds, customs office, open storage yards, etc. would be crucial.

The need for greater levels of participation of freight forwarders and shipping line associations in stakeholder meetings and engagement with the government has been observed. This will allow for a two-way flow of information between policymakers and logistics service providers where information on new rules, regulations, and incentive measures can be obtained by the latter and the government can better gauge on-ground bottlenecks.

Lastly, long-term dredging operations along the river banks are expected to cause drastic changes to the aquatic flora and fauna of the river ecosystem. These long-term effects include alterations in the river course, deterioration of water quality through saltwater/seawater ingress, dangers of oil spillage, solid and liquid waste discharges from vessels, and drastic changes in the fish community structure.

IWT is being proactively pursued as an economical and environmentfriendly alternate mode of transport to create a more balanced modalmix. Augmentation of the current capacity of waterways requires coordinated efforts to develop and maintain the terminals, and regulate waterways for navigation. The 15 NWs under development would require constant and consistent project evaluation and monitoring along with ESG dimensions to mitigate constraints.