Transporting goods through city’s canals should be revived. It is not only aesthetic but also an economically viable solution, according to K Skandan, Chairman, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.

This is not a new concept. In the past, movement of goods took place through canals. Such transport will reduce the burden on the road to a great extent, he said at a workshop on green freight organised by the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry in association with Clean Air Asia and IIT Madras.

It is a tragedy that Chennai, when compared to Delhi, has no designated space for pedestrians to walk. “We need long term planning for the city’s infrastructure,” he said.

Gitakrishnan Ramadurai, Associate Professor, Civil Engineering Department, IIT Madras, said inland waterways are a cost-effective way of transportation. The European Union has moved away from road to increase transport through its inland waterways. In Netherlands, 46 per cent of freight transport is through waterways, he said.

Quoting McKinsey’s Building India Report, Ramadurai said spend on logistics in India was around 13 per cent, compared to 9 per cent in the US and 8 per cent in Germany. Rail and coastal shipping costs in India are 70-per cent higher than those in the US. Road costs are 30 per cent higher in India compared to the US.

Nearly $45 billion is lost each year due inefficiencies, and this could increase to $140 billion by 2020, he said quoting from the report.

Shifting freight from energy-intensive modes such as road and air to rail and shipping should be a priority, said Ramadurai.

On city’s traffic, Ramadurai said 10,000 construction trucks enter the city every day, which is nearly double the truck movement to the Chennai port. It puts enormous pressure on the infrastructure and also increases pollution levels. “

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