Kohima: The Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal announced major initiatives aimed at enabling the waterways potential of Nagaland during the Stakeholder’s Conference held in Dimapur, Nagaland today. The Chief Minister of Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio, joined Sonowal to announce the development of Tizu Zunki (National Waterways 101) as both the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and the Transport Department of the Government of Nagaland work together to study navigation feasibility. Rio and 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.

These developments were announced during the interactive session of the Stakeholder’s Conference, organised by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), the nodal agency of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW), Government of India, in Dimapur, Nagaland today. The conference was also attended by the Deputy Chief Minister, Yanthungo Patton; the Tourism Minister of Nagaland, Temjen Imna Along; the Member of Parliament of Lok Sabha, S S Jamir; the Member of Parliament of Rajya Sabha, Phangnon Konyak; the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) & Advisor, Nagaland, M Yanthan; MLA & Advisor Transport & Technical Education, Temjenmenba; the MLA & Advisor, SK Yimchunger; the MLA of Nagaland, ZN Nyuthe; the MLA of Nagaland, CK Santam; the Vice Chairman of IWAI, Sunil Singh; the Commissioner & Secretary, Transportation Department of the Government of Nagaland, among other senior officials from the Government of India as well as the Government of Nagaland.

Speaking on the occasion, Sarbananda Sonowal said, “Waterways is the most economical, sustainable and efficient mode of transportation. Our most popular Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always given top priority to inland waterways in the country as the viable alternative to develop an efficient and effective mode of transportation in the country. Under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Modi, our government has been working towards enabling our rich resource pool of the country to escalate the growth trajectory of India to become one of the five largest economies in the world in less than a decade. The 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 impetus for the development of waterways in 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.”

Rio and 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, and 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 the Indo Bangladesh Protocol Route (IBPR), development of fairway on IBPR as well as declaration of Ports of Call among others.

Tizu River in Nagaland further flows into Chindwin River (the third largest tributary of the Irrawaddy River), also known as Ningthi River in Myanmar, at Htamanthi in Myanmar. Chindwin River further enters into 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 the Northeast to the international trade routes. /BI