National Waterway 1

Development

The topography of NW-1 falls within the flat terrian of the Indo-Gangetic plain. The elevation ranges from 1 to 321 m (3 to 1,053 ft) above mean sea level. The land is predominantly agricultural with some major cities of India lying within the region. For thousands of years, river Ganga and its tributaries and distributaries have been used for navigation to transport people and local produce from these agricultural lands.

On Aug 12th, 2016 Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways laid the foundation stone of the waterway terminal at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. He flagged off the trial run of two vessels which will carry newly manufactured cars of Maruti Suzuki from Varanasi to Haldia, West Bengal.

The NW-1 is being developed at an estimated cost of ₹4,200 crore (US$620 million), with financial assistance of US$650 million from the World Bank. The 1,620 km (1,010 mi) route of NW-1 will be upgraded to maintaining the following least available depth to allow for higher tonnage vessels of 1,500-2,000 tonnage to ply on the route.

Major challenges

One of the major changes to the development of NW-1 is braiding and meandering characteristics of river Ganga and the large fluctation of the water volume during the summer and monsoon months. The major challenges are:

Traffic

Even today the stretch of the river assigned as NW-1 is being used to transport cargo — mostly local produce and tourists. The Ministry of Shipping projects that the NW-1 will carry mostly bulk goods. Cargo like cement, iron ore, coal and coal combustion products, crude oil and petroleum products, rock phosphate, timber, stone chips, manganese ore and agricultural produce Finished iron products from the number of steel plants present in this region will also be a major cargo in this route.

Controversy

The National Waterway 1 was landed in a controversy and protests after Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister of Shipping in July, 2014 announced that the government will construct barrages every 100 km (62 mi) on river Ganga and will undertake dredging activities in identified stretch to provide a width of 45 m (148 ft) and a depth of 3 m (9.8 ft) to enable transport of passengers and goods between Varanasi and Hooghly on river Ganga in the first stage of its development. The initial proposal is based on a study by Danish Hydrological Institute, which prepared reports on two stretches between Allahabad and Varanasi and between Varanasi and Buxar. The announcement was made after World Bank agreed to fund the initial US$50 million including technical support without any public consultation. The move was criticized by river activists and professors of Banaras Hindu University.

Involvement of World Bank

A representation was sent by several experts on the environmental and social impact of reviving the NW-1 to Government of India and World Bank in August, 2014. The representation was led by economist Dr. Bharat Jhunjhunwala along with a group of environmentalists and former bureaucrats. The representation was followed by meetings with World Bank. The World Bank representatives were briefed about the ecological and social implications of the proposal. The adverse impact on river bank communities, the unmitigated displacement of people due to erosion at Farakka, a cost-benefit analysis for all stakeholders involved and whether taxation of the waterway will render it unviable. The World Bank clarified that they were unaware of the plan to construct 16 barrages and no funds had been disbursed till then. However However, as per a letter dated 18th June, 2014 forwarded by Shipping Minister Mr. Nitin Gadkari to the Finance Minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley, a proposal for financial assistance to four navigational barrages was made.

Opposition from Chief Minister of Bihar

The Government of Bihar led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar opposed the initiative to construct barrage on Ganga stating that construction of barrages will convert Ganga into big ponds. He stated that not a single drop of pure water from Ganga reaches Bihar due to similar barrages in upstream of the river. Later, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has clarified that there are at present no plans to construct any new barrage on the 1,620 km (1,010 mi) stretch of the NW-1 on the Ganga.

Dredging of Ganga

Environmentalist Debadityo Sinha claimed that World Bank has possibly scrapped the plan for construction of barrages for the National Waterway-1 after public opposition from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. However, significant maintenance dredging of the river Gangan will be undertaken by the government of India to make it navigable. The author also alleged that the Ministry of Environment, Government of India has made an amendment in law in January, 2016 in which dredging activities for maintenance is exempted from the requirement of Environmental Clearance.

Threat to Gangetic Dolphin and aquatic fauna

Wildlife Biologist Nachicket Kelkar claimed that the noise and disturbance caused by intensive dredging activities is known to have deleterious impacts on aquatic biodiversity, especially the National Aquatic Animal of India, the Ganges River Dolphin which is basically founded in Bhagalpur region of Bihar. In particular, substrate-breeding fish species are negatively affected by dredging and might even become locally extinct following failed breeding. As a bulk of fisheries depends on benthic (bottom-dwelling) fishes in most of India’s larger rivers, this will mean important threat to the sustainable production of fish in these systems as well.

Destruction of Self-Purification of Ganga

A study done by NEERI, a government of India funded research institution shows that the river Ganga is unique in its sediment content that is more radioactive compared to any other river and lake water sediments. These sediments release Copper and Chromium and have bactericidal properties that multiply coliphages reducing and ultimately eliminating coliforms from water. River activist and economist Dr. Bharat Jhunjhunwala has claimed that the dredging activities undertaken will destroy the self-purification capacity unique to the Ganga.