Parliament Question: Inland Water Transport

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1252 ANSWERED ON 06.02.2026 INLAND WATER TRANSPORT

1252. SHRI PUSHPENDRA SAROJ:

Will the MINISTER of PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS be pleased to state: प(cid:517)न,पोत प(cid:303)रवहन और जलमाग(cid:330) मं(cid:361)ी

(a) the number of inland waterway terminals, multimodal terminals and river ports developed or operated under National Waterway-l (Ganga) in Uttar Pradesh;

(b) the Jal Marg Vikas Project where cargo or passenger operations were disrupted during the last two years due to dredging delays, maintenance backlogs or navigational depth constraints;

(c) the terminal-wise duration and frequency of such disruptions;

(d) the impact on cargo volumes handled, vessel turnaround time and utilisation of sanctioned terminal capacity;

(e) whether accountability or penalties were fixed on Inland Waterways Authority of India

(IWAI) executing agencies, contractors or concessionaires for failure to meet dredging and maintenance obligations, if so, the details thereof; and

(f) the measures taken to ensure assured depth, time-bound maintenance and predictable year-round operations to improve the commercial viability of inland water transport infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh? ANSWER MINISTER OF PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS (SHRI SARBANNDA SONOWAL)

(a) One permanent Multi-Modal Terminal (MMT) at Varanasi; 2 floating terminals at Prayagraj, 3 floating terminals at Varanasi, one each at Gazhipur & Ballia and 15 Community Jetties (floating) at various locations on the National Waterway(NW)-l (River Ganga) in Uttar Pradesh have been developed and are operational.

(b) to (d) No disruption of cargo or passenger operations were reported / observed during the last two years on NW-1 except an incident of instant grounding of MV Aai(Cargo vessel) in February 2025, which was due to adoption of alternate channel other than main navigation channel.

(e) Accountability or penalties fixed by Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) on executing agencies namely M/s Knowledge Marine & Engineering Works (KMEW) Ltd. for Rs. 3,09,93,150/- & M/s Dharti Dredging & Infrastructure Ltd. (DDIL) for Rs.

3,73,21,990/- due to non-mobilization of dredgers on time as per contract provisions.

(f) To provide end to end fairway and to ensure assured depth, time-bound maintenance and predictable year-round operations, NW-1 has been divided into 10 stretches for fairway development works. Contracts for all 10 stretches have been awarded and fairway maintenance activities are ongoing including two stretches in Uttar Pradesh i.e.

Varanasi – Ghazipur and Ghazipur-Majhaua. *****