Dimapur, July 16, 2024: 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. The Chief Minister of Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio joined Sarbananda Sonowal to announce development of Tizu Zunki (National Waterways 101) as both the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and the Transport Department of Govt of Nagaland to work together to study for navigation feasibility. Rio & Sonowal also announced to take initiatives to develop the immense tourism potential of Doyang River lake with community jetties as well as study feasibility of Ro Pax ferries. This will boost the tourism potential of the state.
These developments were announced during the interactive session of Stakeholder’s Conference, organized by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), the nodal agency of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW), Govt of India. The Deputy Chief Minister, Yanthungo Patton; the Tourism Minister of Nagaland, Temjen Imna Along; and the MP of Lok Sabha, S S Jamir among others, attended the conference.
Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, said, “Waterways is the most economical, sustainable and efficient mode of transportation. Our PM Narendra Modi ji has always prioritized the inland waterways in the country as the viable alternative to develop an efficient and effective mode of transportation in the country. 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 of the region”.
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.
Tizu river in Nagaland further flows into Chindown river (Third largest Tributary of river Irrawaddy river), also known as Ningthi river in Myanmar, at Htamanthi in Myanmar. Chindown river further enters into Irrawaddy river – the largest river of Myanmar. River Irrawaddy further drains into Andaman Sea via 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.
