Guwahati, July 15: Tizu Zunki (National Waterways 101) in Nagaland will be harnessed for economic development of Nagaland, to enable cargo and passenger transport.
This was announced by Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal to enable the waterways potential of Nagaland during the Stakeholder’s Conference held today in Dimapur. The Chief Minister of Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio was also present on the occasion.
The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and the Dept of Transportation, Govt of Nagaland will conduct a detailed feasibility study for the development of the Tizu Zunki River (NW 101).
Tizu River in Nagaland further flows into Chindown River (the Third largest Tributary of river Irrawaddy River), also known as Ningthi River in Myanmar, at Htamanthi in Myanmar. Chindown River further enters into the Irrawaddy River – the largest river in Myanmar. River Irrawaddy further drains into the Andaman Sea via the Irrawaddy Delta after travelling through river ports like Mandalay Chauk, Prome and & Hinthada providing an alternative opportunity to use waterways for cargo movement from Northeast to the international trade routes.
The IWAI will provide technical assistance to the transport department for the development of NW 101 for navigation.
Rio & Sonowal also announced initiatives to develop the immense tourism potential of Doyang River lake with community jetties as well as study the feasibility of Ro Pax ferries. This will boost the tourism potential of the state.
Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, said, “Waterways is the most economical, sustainable and efficient mode of transportation. The govt has been working towards enabling our rich resource pool of the country towards escalate the growth trajectory of India to become one of the fifth largest economies in the world in less than a decade.
“Northeast has a major role to play as the growth engine of India, as envisioned by Modi. The complex and dynamic mix of waterways of the Northeast provides us with an excellent opportunity to build on the nation-building momentum. We remain firmly committed and on track to provide an impetus for the development of the waterways of the region. I call upon all the stakeholders present here today like transporters, EXIM traders, business interests and vessel owners to utilise the opportunity provided by the revamped waterways of the region.” Sonowal said.
CM Neiphiu Rio and UM Sarbananda Sonowal called upon the youth of the region to train in maritime skills at the Maritime Skill Development Centre to avail employment opportunities in the marine sector. In Nagaland, the NW 101 flows from Longmatra (Nagaland) towards Avangkhu where the feasibility study of IWT will be conducted by the IWAI. This will examine from the perspective of fairway development, navigational aids, terminal with minimum infrastructure, skill development and vessel procurement.
The Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW), via the IWAI, has been working towards empowering and enabling the complex and dynamic waterways of the region. The agency is working on multiple projects in this regard including the prestigious Kaladaan Multimodal Transit Transport Project, enabling linkage of multiple NWs like NW 2 and NW 16 with Indo Bangladesh Protocol Route (IBPR), development of fairway on IBPR as well as declaration of Ports of Call among others.
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