Government clears land transfer from Farakka project to IWAI

NEW DELHI: The government today approved the transfer of land from Farakka Barrage Project to the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) for construction of navigational lock parallel to the one at Farakka.

"Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval to transfer of 14.86 hectares of land from Farakka Barrage Project under Ministry of Water Resources to Inland Waterways Authority of India under the Ministry of Shipping," an official statement said.

The cost of land is around Rs 2.35 crore and is to be borne by IWAI.

Construction of the navigational lock is a subproject of Jal Marg Vikas Project and the new lock will ensure smooth and seamless movement of vessels on NW (National Waterways)-1.

IWAI is implementing the project for capacity augmentation of navigation on NW-1 on Allahabad-Haldia stretch of Ganga-Bhagarathi Hooghly River System with technical and investment support of the World Bank, it said.

A navigational Lock is already in operation at Farakka under the control of Farakka Barrage Project (FBP) since 1987. This lock needs modernisation, it added.

The existing lock is unable to handle the number of vessels currently passing through it efficiently and considerable time is taken for the vessels to pass through.

Therefore, need for construction of an additional lock to facilitate easy passage of vessels through the lock, given the anticipated increase in the number of vessels and volume of cargo that are expected to pass through it in future after implementation of the Jal Marg Vikas Project, it said.

IWAI is a statutory body under the Ministry of Shipping and is the nodal authority responsible for regulation and development of inland waterways for the purposes of shipping and navigation. It is within its mandate to build, maintain, operate and manage the navigational locks.

The works shall be planned and executed in such a manner that the existing arrangements about sharing of Ganga water at Farakka, as per Ganga Water Treaty-1996 between India and Bangladesh, are not affected, the statement said.