Inland Waterways Authority of India and National Waterways

About IWAI

• Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the statutory authority that came into existence on 27th October 1986.
• It aims for development and regulation of inland waterways for shipping and navigation.
• The Authority primarily undertakes projects for development and maintenance of IWT infrastructure on national waterways through grant received from Ministry of Shipping.
• IWAI is also the overall Project Development Consultant (PDC) to Project Development Consultant (PDC) for implementation of PORT & IWT component of Kaladan project.
• It is also developing freight villages in Varanasi in UP and Multi Modal terminal built at Sahibganj in Jharkhand.

About National Waterways:

• As per The National Waterways Act, 2016, 111 waterways have been declared as National Waterways (NWs).

Major national waterways:

• NW 1: Waterway between Allahabad (Prayagraj) and Haldia on Ganga River.
• NW 2: Sadiya Dhubri Stretch of Brahmaputra River.
• NW 3: Kollam Kozhikode Stretch of West Coast Canal and Champakara and Udyogmandal Canals.
• NW 4: Kakinada Puducherry Stretch of Canals and the Kaluvelly Tank, Nashik Bhadrachalam Rajahmundry Stretch of River Godavari and Wazirab ad Vijayawada stretch of River Krishna.
• NW 5: Talcher Dhamra stretch of the Brahmani River, the Geonkhali Charbatia stretch of the East Coast Canal, the Charbatia Dhamra stretch of Matai River and the Mangalgadi Paradip stretch of the Mahanadi River Delta.
• NW 16: Between Lakhipur and Bhanga of the Barak River.

PRELIMS QUESTION

Consider the following statements regarding Inland waterways authority of India:
1.It was created in 2015 to implement national waterways project.
2.It is a consultant for Kaladan connectivity project.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a)1 only
(b)2 only
(c)Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to Prelims Question