Govt to develop 23 river systems to use inland waterways for cargo: Sonowal

As many as 23 river systems will be developed for cargo and passenger vessel movement, as the government's focus is on increasing the movement through river systems, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has said.

The aim is to utilise inland waterways to improve cargo and passenger vessels movement at cheap transportation cost, the Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways told PTI in an interview.

"Till now we have 111 national waterways out of this, we have discovered there are 23 river systems which are feasible for navigation," he said.

These will be developed accordingly for cargo and passenger vessels movement, Sonowal said.

In Dibrugarh, he said construction of a multi-modal cargo terminal will begin by 2023-end with multi-core investment.

"A lot of development will happen along the river Brahmaputra, that will create jobs in large numbers for the people," he said.

Under the government's 'Arth Ganga' model, as many as 62 jetties will be developed along the river Ganga to ...