National Waterways Act, 2016

The National Waterways Bill, 2015 was introduced in Lok Sabha on May 5, 2015 by the Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Shipping, Mr. Nitin Gadkari.

Under Entry 24 of the Union List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, the central government can make laws on shipping and navigation on inland waterways which are classified as national waterways by Parliament by law.

The Bill identifies additional 101 waterways as national waterways. The Schedule of the Bill also specifies the extent of development to be undertaken on each waterway.

The Bill repeals the five Acts that declare the existing national waterways. These five national waterways are now covered under the Bill.

The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill states that while inland waterways are recognised as a fuel efficient, cost effective and environment friendly mode of transport, it has received lesser investment as compared to roads and railways. Since inland waterways are lagging behind other modes of transport, the central government has evolved a policy for integrated development of inland waterways

NW1          Allahabad-Haldia stretch of the Ganga—Bhagirathi-Hooghly Rivers

NW2           Sadiya-Dhubri Stretch of Brahmaputra River

NW3           Kollam-Kozhikode Stretch of West Coast Canal and Champakara and Udyogmandal Canals

NW4           Kakinada–Pondicherry stretch of canals and the Kaluvelly Tank, Bhadrachalam –                                     Rajahmundry stretch of River Godavari and Wazirabad – Vijayawada stretch of River                             Krishna

NW5          Talcher–Dhamra stretch of the Brahmani River, the Geonkhali - Charbatia stretch of                               the East Coast Canal, the Charbatia–Dhamra stretch of Matai river and the Mangalgadi -                       Paradip stretch of the Mahanadi River Delta

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Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the statutory authority in charge of the waterways in India. Its headquarters is located in Noida, UP.

It does the function of building the necessary infrastructure in these waterways, surveying the economic feasibility of new projects and also administration.