Union minister for ports, shipping and waterways Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday flagged off the first cargo vessel of Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) from Patna to Pandu in Guwahati through rivers Ganga and Brahmaputra via Bangladesh, carrying 200 metric tonnes of food grains.

Union minister for consumer affairs, food and public distribution Piyush Goyal also joined the event in Patna from New Delhi in virtual mode.

The vessel will sail through the national waterways 1 of river Ganga and reach Pandu in Guawahati situated on the bank of Brahmaputra (national waterways 2) via Bangladesh under the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route.

It will take 25 days for the vessel, MV Lal Bahadur Shastri, to reach Pandu after covering a distance of 2,350 kilometres.

The maiden operation of the cargo vessel would also establish technical and commercial viability of inland water transport route, connecting to north eastern region of the country.

Speaking at the occasion, Sonowal said the two major rivers of the country, Ganga and Brahmaputra, would get connected for waterways operation through the IBP route comprising Khulna, Narayanganj, Sirajganj and Chilmari in Bangladesh. “Traders of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Bangladesh would benefit from the operation of waterways as both Ganga and Brahmaputra have been connected,” he said at the function in Patna.

The vessel will cross Bhagalpur, Manihari (in Bihar), Sahibganj (Jharkhand), Farakka, Tribeni, Kolkata, Haldia, Hemnagar (West Bengal) and Dhubri and Jogighopa in Assam. IWAI aims to run regular scheduled services on these routes.

The port and shipping minister also laid the foundation stone for construction of an intermodal terminal at Kalughat in Saran falling under national waterways 1, to be built at a cost of Rs. 78.28 crore and scheduled to be completed by the end of next year. The terminal located on the bank of Ganga will be constructed on 13.17 acres of land and is directly connected to NH 19.

Union minister of state for forest environment Ashwini Choubey said the inland waterways was inaugurated as part of Prime Mnister Narendra Modi’s “Act East” policy. “To begin with, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is sending its foodgrains to Guwahati. Other businessmen will use the convenient and cheapest mode of transport in days to come,” said Choubey.

Bihar’s deputy chief minister Tarkishore Prasad said the states like Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland, besides Bihar, Jharkhand and West would see a new era of growth powered by the waterways. “The waterways intend to ease existing logistical bottlenecks and enhance connectivity among states. The project aims to bring prosperity and better working opportunities for the people of northeast India,” he said.

Officials said that two stretches of IBP routes, i.e., Sirajganj-Daikhowa and Ashuganj-Zakiganj are also being developed at a cost of ₹305.84 crores on an 80:20 share basis (80% being borne by India and 20% by Bangladesh). The development of these stretches is expected to provide seamless navigation to northeast region via the IBP route. The contracts for dredging on the two stretches for providing and maintaining requisite depth for a period of seven years (from 2019 to 2026) are underway.

They further added that barging from Kolkata to Kalughat will lead to cost saving by up to 24% as compared to road and 4% as compared to rail when the return cargo is available.

The construction of the Kalughat terminal will help decongesting the jam-packed roads of north Bihar by promoting inland water transport, which has low emission and will be environment friendly and provide an alternative route for transportation of cargo in this area.

The terminal will provide boost to the region’s socio-economic development. It will create multiple job opportunities in this area by promotion of industries, accessibility of local markets, hinterland connectivity etc. The terminal will be a state of art terminal and will be built using the most advanced and updated technology, officials said.