Water grid programme set to connect India with Bangladesh seamlessly

In October 2018, India and Bangladesh signed a pact for enhancing inland and coastal waterways connectivity between the two countries for trade and cruise movements

Opening up of the India-Bangladesh protocol route for a seamless movement through waterways would be the start of a water grid programme. 

The plan to create a water grid was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her Budget speech on Friday.

The 1400-km long National Waterway-1 will be connected to the 1,600 km long India-Bangladesh protocol route via National Waterway-2, which is roughly 900 km in length. 

“It would be the start of the water grid network, which will essentially mean free flow of water from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to Bangladesh via Haldia (West Bengal). It will translate into nearly 4,000