Assam: 8.11 million tonnes of cargo shipped on Brahmaputra waterway

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The total volume of cargo movement on National Waterway (NW) 2 (River Brahmaputra) is calculated to be 8.11 million tonnes from the financial year 2013-14 to 2024-25 (until October 2024).  This was revealed in a central government report released recently.

Significantly, the movement of cargo on NW 2 was more in FY 2013-14, when a total of 2.48 million tonnes of cargo was shipped on the waterway. The volume of cargo movement, however, marked a declining trend in the subsequent years. 

According to the data made available, the year-wise movement of cargo on NW 2 was—0.51 million tonnes in 2014-15, 0.60 million tonnes in 2015-16, 0.61 million tonnes in 2016-17, 0.56 million tonnes in 2017-18, 0.49 million tonnes in 2018-19, 0.39 million tonnes in 2019-20, 0.31 million tonnes in 2020-21, 0.43 million tonnes in 2021-22, 0.63 million tonnes in 2022-23, 0.59 million tonnes in 2023-24, and 0.51 million tonnes in 2024-25 (up to October 2024).

Several steps have been taken by the central government to increase cargo movement through the National Waterways, including infrastructure and policy measures.

Among the infrastructure measures are fairway maintenance works (river training, maintenance dredging, channel marking, and regular hydrographic surveys) taken up in various NWs for providing a navigation channel of 35/45 m width and 2.0/2.2/2.5/3.0 m Least Available Depth (LAD) for operation of vessels.

Also, 12 floating terminals were provided on NW-2 (River Brahmaputra), along with one multi-modal terminal (MMT) at Pandu and permanent terminals at Jogighopa, Bogibeel, and Dhubri. Four dedicated tourist jetties have been provided at Jogighopa, Pandu, Biswanath Ghat, and Neamatighat. In addition to this, jetties for cruise and passenger ships have also been constructed for Sadiya, Lyka, and Orium Ghat in Assam.

 Also Read: Assam: Inland Waterways Authority of India gives NOCs to five bridges over Brahmaputra

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