Inland waterways and the national waterways

Detail

What inland waterways are

• Inland waterways: water routes inside a country that are not part of the sea. They include rivers, canals, backwaters and creeks.
• Backwaters (kayals): long, quiet coastal lagoons and channels that run parallel to the sea. The best examples are in Kerala.

• Creek: a narrow arm of the sea that reaches into the coast, often at a river mouth. Examples are on the Maharashtra and Gujarat coasts.

• India has about 14,500 km of navigable waterways (navigable means boats can actually move on them).

• Official definition: a waterway counts as navigable when vessels of at least 50 tonnes can use it in normal conditions. The length of a river or canal is measured along the middle of the channel [2].
• Three types of inland waterway [2]:

Type	What it is	Indian example
Open river waterway	A natural river that flows freely. Only small works are done to keep it deep enough.	Brahmaputra (NW-2)
Canalised waterway	A river divided into calmer sections by locks (gated chambers that raise or lower boats) and dams	Ganga at the Farakka lock (NW-1)
Canal	A man-made channel dug for boats	West Coast Canal (NW-3), Buckingham Canal (NW-4)

Why waterways matter: advantages

• Cheapest mode of transport. It is fuel-efficient and eco-friendly, and it is best for heavy, bulky cargo such as coal, ores, cement and food grains.
• Water transport uses about 3–6 times less energy than road and up to 2 times less than rail. It also makes less noise and less pollution (ILO, cited by PIB, 2026) [2].
• One inland vessel of about 2,000 tonnes can replace nearly 125 trucks of 16 tonnes each [2].
• It needs very little land. It takes load off crowded roads and railways. It also supports Ro-Ro ferries (roll-on/roll-off: vehicles drive straight onto the boat) and tourism [2].
• A waterway needs three basic things before it can run [2]:
• a fairway: a channel that is wide and deep enough
• terminals, linked to road and rail

• navigational aids: buoys, lights and markers

• Dredging keeps the fairway deep. Dredging means removing sand and silt from the riverbed [2].

Rise and decline

• Before the railways (before 1853), rivers were the chief mode of transport. The Ganga and the Brahmaputra carried most trade between the inland plains and the ports.
• Why they declined:
• Competition from railways and roads: these were faster, ran all year and reached places away from rivers.
• River water taken for irrigation: canals and barrages drew water from the rivers. Less water flowed downstream, so long stretches became too shallow for boats (non-navigable).

• Siltation and seasonal flow: rivers are low in the dry season and hard to use in floods.

• Result: waterways carry only a tiny share of traffic. (NCERT: about 1% of India's traffic.) The current official figure for inland water transport's share of freight is about 2%. The target is to raise it to 5% [2].

Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI)

• IWAI: the central body that develops and regulates the National Waterways. It builds fairways, terminals and navigational aids.
• It was set up under the IWAI Act, 1985 (enacted on 30 December 1985). It was formed on 27 October 1986 [2].
• It works under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. Its headquarters is in Noida (Uttar Pradesh).
• IWAI is also the competent authority under the Inland Vessels Act, 2021. This law sets one uniform set of rules for inland vessels across India [2].

National Waterways Act, 2016

• National Waterway (NW): a waterway declared by an Act of Parliament. It is then developed by the Centre (Union List subject). Other waterways are left to the states.
• The Act was enacted on 25 March 2016. It declared 111 NWs: the 5 old NWs (each earlier declared by a separate Act) plus 106 new ones [2].
• Size of the network: 111 NWs, 20,187 km, spread over 23 states and 4 Union Territories [2].
• Operational NWs: 32 NWs (5,155 km) were working as of March 2026. The plan is to reach 52 within 5 years. The Union Budget 2026-27 promises 20 new operational NWs over the next 5 years [2].
• "Operational" means the waterway has a deep enough fairway, working terminals and navigational aids [2].

The five original National Waterways

NW	Route	Length	States	Key notes
NW-1	Ganga–Bhagirathi–Hooghly, Prayagraj (Allahabad)–Haldia	1,620 km	UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal	Mechanised boats to Patna; ordinary boats up to Haridwar
NW-2	Brahmaputra, Sadiya–Dhubri	891 km	Assam	Steamers up to Dibrugarh (1,384 km); route shared with Bangladesh
NW-3	West Coast Canal, Kottapuram–Kollam	205 km	Kerala	168 km canal + Champakara canal 14 km + Udyogmandal canal 23 km
NW-4	Godavari and Krishna stretches with the Kakinada–Puducherry canals	1,078 km	Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry	Links two delta rivers along the east coast
NW-5	Brahmani, Matai, Mahanadi–Brahmani delta channels, East Coast Canal	588 km	Odisha, West Bengal	Mineral belt to the ports

NW-1: Ganga–Bhagirathi–Hooghly (Prayagraj–Haldia)

• The river: the Bhagirathi rises at Gaumukh (Gangotri glacier, Uttarakhand). It joins the Alaknanda at Devprayag to form the Ganga.
• The Ganga flows east across UP and Bihar.
• Near Farakka (West Bengal) it splits. The Bhagirathi–Hooghly goes south past Kolkata to the Bay of Bengal. The main stream (Padma) enters Bangladesh.

• Haldia lies on the Hooghly estuary in Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal.

• Three sections, east to west:

• Haldia–Farakka: 560 km (deepest; tidal Hooghly)
• Farakka–Patna: 460 km

• Patna–Prayagraj: 600 km (shallowest)

• The water gets shallower as you go upstream. That is why mechanised boats stop at Patna. Even today, large cruise vessels usually run only up to Patna, because of low depth and pontoon bridges (floating bridges laid across the river) [2].

• It is the longest and most important NW. It serves the densely populated Ganga plain.

NW-2: Brahmaputra (Sadiya–Dhubri)

• The river: it rises near Mansarovar in Tibet (as the Tsangpo) from the Chemayungdung glacier. It enters India in Arunachal Pradesh as the Siang/Dihang, then flows west through Assam. At Dhubri it enters Bangladesh as the Jamuna.
• Sadiya (Tinsukia district) is at the eastern end of Assam. Dhubri is at the western end, near the Bangladesh border.
• Development 2020-21 to 2024-25 (₹498 crore) [2]:
• terminals at Bogibeel and Jogighopa
• tourist jetties at Bogibeel and Pandu (Guwahati)

• ship repair facility at Pandu (₹419 crore)

• Cruise terminals are being built at Guwahati, Neamati, Biswanath Ghat, Silghat and Guijan [2].

NW-3: West Coast Canal (Kottapuram–Kollam, Kerala)

• Kottapuram (Thrissur district) is in the north. Kollam is in the south.
• The waterway runs through the Kerala backwater belt (lagoons cut off from the Arabian Sea by sand bars).
• The Champakara and Udyogmandal canals are side canals near Kochi. They serve the industrial belt (e.g. FACT at Udyogamandal).
• It is fully operational for passenger ferries and houseboats [2].

NW-4: Godavari–Krishna and the Kakinada–Puducherry canals

• It joins the deltas of two big Peninsular rivers with coastal canals running south. The best known is the Buckingham Canal, which runs past Chennai to Puducherry.
• Passenger ferries run only at some locations [2].

NW-5: Odisha delta system

• It links the Talcher–Angul coal and mineral belt to the coast through the Brahmani and Mahanadi delta rivers and the East Coast Canal (into West Bengal).
• Budget 2026-27: NW-5 is to be made operational. It will connect Talcher and Angul to Kalinganagar (steel hub) and the ports of Paradip and Dhamra [2].
• Regional Centres of Excellence (training institutes) will be set up along NW-5 [2].

Other important waterways

Waterway	State / area	Now declared as	Note
Mandovi, Zuari, Cumberjua	Goa	NW-68, NW-111, NW-27 [2]	Carry iron ore barges to Mormugao port
Sundarbans	West Bengal (Ganga–Brahmaputra delta)	NW-97 [2]	Mangrove channels; cruise route
Barak	Assam (Barak valley)	NW-16 [2]	Terminals at Badarpur and Karimganj; ₹134.72 crore spent since 2020-21 [2]
Kerala backwaters (kayals)	Kerala	NW-3, NW-8 (Alappuzha–Changanassery), NW-9 (Alappuzha–Kottayam–Athirampuzha) [2]	Tourism, houseboats, Nehru Trophy boat race (Punnamada Lake, Alappuzha)

• The Kochi Water Metro has run since 2023. It is planned as 15 routes, about 78 km, linking 10 islands through 38 terminals (project cost about ₹819 crore). It is the first urban mass transit system in India built on water (Economic Survey 2025-26) [2].

Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route (1972)

• Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade: an agreement first signed in 1972, right after Bangladesh became independent.
• It lets Indian and Bangladeshi barges carry trade goods through each other's rivers.

• It also allows transit: Indian goods can move from one part of India to another through Bangladesh.

• Route: Kolkata–Haldia → Sundarbans → Bangladesh rivers (Padma/Jamuna/Meghna) → Brahmaputra (NW-2) and Barak (NW-16) in Assam.

• Why it matters: the North-East is landlocked behind the narrow Siliguri Corridor ("Chicken's Neck"). This route gives it a water outlet to the sea.
• Jalvahak Cargo Promotion Scheme (launched 15 December 2024) [2]:
• It pays back up to 35% of operating cost for scheduled cargo on NW-1, NW-2 and NW-16 via the IBP route.

• Budget: ₹95.42 crore for 2024-25 to 2026-27.

• Tripura is building a ₹24.53 crore link between the Gumti river (India) and the Meghna (Bangladesh) [2].

• Pointer: Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project. This project goes by sea from Kolkata to Sittwe port (Myanmar), then by river up the Kaladan to Paletwa, then by road to Mizoram. It is a second route to the North-East that does not use the Siliguri Corridor.

Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) on NW-1

• JMVP: a project to raise the capacity of NW-1 on the Varanasi–Haldia stretch (1,390 km). It gets technical and financial help from the World Bank [2].
• Cost: ₹5,061.15 crore. Target date: 30 June 2026 [2].
• What it does [2]:
• Keeps an assured depth of 2.2–3.0 m for at least 330 days a year.

• This lets bigger vessels of 1,500–2,000 DWT use the river. DWT (deadweight tonnage) is the weight a ship can carry.

• Infrastructure now working [2]:

• Multi-Modal Terminals at Varanasi (UP), Sahibganj (Jharkhand) and Haldia (WB)
• Inter-Modal Terminal at Kalughat (Bihar)
• a new navigation lock at Farakka

• Quick Pontoon Opening Mechanism (QPOM): pontoon bridges now open for a vessel in about 5 minutes

• Result: cargo on NW-1 rose by about 220%, from 5.05 MMT (2014-15) to 16.38 MMT (2024-25) [2][3].

• Arth Ganga (JMVP-II): a sub-part of JMVP that aims to improve livelihoods along the river. 66 community jetties were working along NW-1 by April 2026, used by about 1.22 lakh people daily [2].

River cruise: Ganga Vilas (2023)

• MV Ganga Vilas, called the world's longest river cruise, was flagged off from Varanasi on 13 January 2023 [5].
• It reached Dibrugarh (Assam) on 28 February 2023. The trip covered about 3,200 km in 51 days through 27 river systems in India and Bangladesh, using the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route [4].
• Stops included Sarnath, Mayong and Majuli (the largest river island, in Assam) [5].
• Cruise growth [2]:
• Cruise vessels rose from 3 (2013-14) to 25 (2024-25).

• Cruise voyages rose from 371 (2023-24) to 443 (2024-25).

• The River Cruise Tourism Roadmap 2047 was launched on 8 January 2024 [2].

Cargo trend: a sharp rise from a low base

• Cargo on NWs grew from 18.10 MMT (FY 2013-14) to about 145.5 MMT (FY 2024-25). This is a CAGR of 20.86% (CAGR: the average yearly growth rate) [3].
• Later official figure for 2024-25: 145.84 MMT [2].

• FY 2025-26: 198 MMT up to February 2026 [2].

• Coal, iron ore, iron ore fines, sand and fly ash made up over 68% of NW cargo in 2024-25 [3]. These are bulky, low-value goods, which suit water transport.

• Passengers on NWs rose from 1.61 crore (2023-24) to 7.6 crore (2024-25) [2].
• Targets: over 200 MMT by 2030 (Maritime India Vision 2030) and over 500 MMT by 2047 (Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision) [2][3].

• A further aim is to raise the combined share of inland waterways and coastal shipping from 6% to 12% by 2047 (Budget 2026-27) [2].

• Harit Nauka guidelines (8 January 2024): green fuels for inland vessels [2]:

• cut the carbon intensity of passenger transport by 30% by 2030 and 70% by 2047
• make 100% of vessels green by 2047

Prelims Hooks

• NW-1 = Ganga–Bhagirathi–Hooghly, Prayagraj–Haldia, 1,620 km. It is the longest of the original five. Sections from east to west: Haldia–Farakka 560 km → Farakka–Patna 460 km → Patna–Prayagraj 600 km.
• NW-2 = Brahmaputra, Sadiya–Dhubri, 891 km, all in Assam. Steamers go up to Dibrugarh (1,384 km).
• NW-3 = West Coast Canal, Kottapuram–Kollam (Kerala), 205 km, with the Champakara (14 km) and Udyogmandal (23 km) canals.
• Trap: NW-4 (Godavari–Krishna, Kakinada–Puducherry canals, 1,078 km) is longer than NW-2 (891 km) but shorter than NW-1 (1,620 km).
• National Waterways Act, 2016: 111 NWs = 5 old + 106 new, covering 20,187 km in 23 states + 4 UTs [2]. 32 were operational as of March 2026 [2].
• IWAI was set up in 1986 under the IWAI Act, 1985. It works under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways [2].
• JMVP is World Bank-aided. It covers Varanasi–Haldia. Its multimodal terminals are at Varanasi (UP), Sahibganj (Jharkhand), Haldia (WB) [2].
• Ganga Vilas (2023) went Varanasi → Dibrugarh via Bangladesh: about 3,200 km, 51 days, 27 river systems [4][5].
• Goa waterways: Mandovi (NW-68), Zuari (NW-111), Cumberjua (NW-27). Barak = NW-16. Sundarbans = NW-97 [2].
• Nehru Trophy boat race is held on Punnamada Lake, Alappuzha (Kerala), in the backwaters (kayals).

Mains Points

• Why waterways declined (GS-I/III):
• Railways from 1853 and roads offered faster, all-season transport.
• Barrages and canals took river water for irrigation.
• Less water flowed downstream, so rivers became shallow and silted, and long stretches became non-navigable.

• Result: the share of traffic fell to about 1% (NCERT). About 2% today [2].

• Why they are being revived (GS-III, infrastructure and environment):

• They are the cheapest and lowest-carbon mode, and best for bulk cargo.
• About 68% of NW cargo is coal, ores, sand and fly ash [3].
• Laws, projects and schemes now support them: the NW Act 2016, JMVP, Jalvahak, and NW-5 for the Talcher–Paradip mineral belt.

• This links them to Sagarmala and PM Gati Shakti multimodal planning.

• Regional strategy for the North-East (GS-II/III):

• The Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route (1972), NW-2, NW-16 and Kaladan give a landlocked region a way to the sea.
• These routes do not depend on the narrow Siliguri Corridor.

• Cross-border river trade also builds ties with Bangladesh.

• Problems still left:

• Low dry-season depth beyond Patna on NW-1.
• Heavy siltation, especially on the Brahmaputra.
• Pontoon bridges and low bridges block vessels.
• Few return cargoes.
• Dredging may harm river ecology (e.g. the Gangetic dolphin habitat).
• Growth is fast but from a low base. Only 32 of the 111 NWs are working [2].