Pandu-Kolkata waterway inaugurated

Our Bureau

GUWAHATI, Nov. 26

CARGO movement in the 1,430-km-long Pandu-Kolkata National Waterway No 2 was inaugurated here by Mr B.N. Jha, Chairman, Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI). With this, cargo movement through waterways to and from North-East via Bangladesh is sure to receive a major boost.

Flagging off the IWAIs state-of-the-art cargo vessel SDV Rajagopalachari with a load of 550 tonnes of tea belonging to Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL), Mr Jha said the IWAI was giving priority to develop the Pandu-Kolkata river route for exploiting the huge cargo movement potential of the region. He said the inaugural trip was more of a promotional nature but it was expected that cargo vessels in both public and private sectors would actively pursue the business to derive the benefit of cheap transportation.

Mr Jha said that a sum of Rs 400 to Rs 500 crore would be required over a period of five years to fully develop the Brahmaputra waterways into the standard of international level for allowing year round day and night navigation.