The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways announced on February 13, 2026, that dredging work is being carried out in the Ganga River to maintain a navigable depth of 3 meters within a 45-meter wide navigation channel for cargo vessels. This work focuses on the National Waterway -1 (Ganga – Bhagirathi-Hooghly River System), specifically a 56 km stretch from Kahalgaon to Sultanganj in the Bhagalpur District. The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is deploying a dredger in areas where the Least Available Depth (LAD) is less than 3 meters. This dredging aims to ensure smooth navigation, as Inland Water Transport is an environment-friendly, economic, and fuel-efficient alternative to rail and road transport. This information was provided by Union Minister Shri Sarbananda Sonowal in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. Release ID: 2227668. Visitor Counter: 60.
Key Entities Referenced
National Waterway -1 (Ganga – Bhagirathi-Hooghly River System): River Ganga waterway declared as National Waterway -1.
Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways: Ministry responsible for the dredging work in Ganga river.
Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI): Autonomous organization under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways deploying dredgers.
River Ganga: Location where dredging work is being done.
Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
DREDGING WORK IN THE GANGA RIVER
Posted On: 13 FEB 2026 5:54PM by PIB Delhi
The objective of dredging work is to maintain navigable depth of 3 meters in the navigation channel of 45
meters width for smooth movement of Cargo vessels in River Ganga, which has been declared as
National Waterway -1 (Ganga – Bhagirathi-Hooghly River System). Out of the declared stretch of 1620
Kms, approximately 56 Kms from Kahalgaon to Sultanganj comes under Bhagalpur District. Inland
Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping
& Waterways has been deploying its departmental dredger in this stretch for undertaking dredging,
wherever Least Available Depth (LAD) is less than 3 meters.
Dredging work is undertaken on a need basis to ensure smooth navigation enabling movement of vessels.
Inland Water Transport is environment-friendly, economic and fuel-efficient in comparison to Rail and
Road leading to overall economic benefit of the country.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, Shri Sarbananda
Sonowal, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
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PN/IY
(Release ID: 2227668) Visitor Counter : 60
Read this release in: Urdu