IWAI unveild two hydrographic survey and inspection vessels

Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) today unveiled two hydrographic survey and inspection vessels, to be deployed in Ganga along the Haldia-Allahabad stretch of National Waterway-1.
The vessels - SL Ganga and SL Jhanvi were constructed a cost of Rs 3.24 crore.
IWAI chairman Nutan Guha Biswas said these specialised survey vessels will help identify exact nature of dredging requirements and sites to get assurred three meters draft which the body has planned to maintain all along the stretch.
In West Bengal, upstream of Tribeni there are six to seven pockets where dredging is required.
Biswas met senior West Bengal government officials to apprise them about the developments of the first phase of Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) on National Waterways-I between Haldia and Varanasi.

Work on Farraka lock gate work has commenced and it is expected to be completed by 2019, IWAI officials said.
Asked about the proposal for a second multimodal terminal at Kalyani, Tribeni or Balagarh beside Haldia, they said the second one will depend upon the dedicated freight corridor coming up at Dankuni.
The JMVP is being implemented with technical and financial assistance of the World Bank at an estimated cost of Rs 5369 crore for plying of vessels of 1500-2,000 tons capacity.