The Union Minister for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways in his address announced major initiatives of the Ministry to enable the waterways potential of Nagaland specially the Tizu-Zungki (National Waterways-101) as both the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and the Nagaland’s transport department have committed to work together to study for navigation feasibilit
By Imna Longchar, TFM Nagaland Correspondent
A stakeholders’ conference for the development of “Inland Water Transport” was held at Zone Niathu by The Park, Chumoukedima on Monday evening, to enable Inland Water Transport (IWT) and explore the waterways potential of Nagaland. Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and Union Minister for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal attended the conference as chief guest, and the guest of honour respectively. Both the members of the parliament from Nagaland, S Supongmeren Jamir (Lok Sabha), and Phangnon Konyak (Rajya Sabha) were also present at the event along with other MLAs and advisors of different departments of the state including deputy chief minister Y Patton.
In his address at the conference, Sonowal announced major initiatives of the Ministry to enable the waterways potential of Nagaland specially the Tizu-Zungki (National Waterways-101) as both the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and the Nagaland’s transport department have committed to work together to study for navigation feasibility.
He, along with Nagaland CM Nephiu Rio, announced to take initiatives to develop the immense tourism potential of Doyang River lake with community “jetties” as well as study the feasibility of Ro Pax ferries which would boost the tourism potential of the state.
Citing that “waterways” are the most economical, sustainable, and efficient mode of transportation, the Union Minister also said that it is under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has always given top priority to the “inland waterways” in the country as the viable alternative to developing an efficient and effective mode of transportation in the country.
Mentioning that under Modi’s leadership, the government has been working towards enabling its rich resource pool of the country towards escalating the growth trajectory of India thereby India becoming the fifth largest economy in the world in less than a decade, Sonowal said the Northeast has a major role to play as the growth engine of the country as envisioned by Modi at the same time added that the “complex and dynamic mix” of waterways of the northeast provides an excellent opportunity on nation building in momentum.
The Union Minister later said that the ministry along with the Nagaland chief minister remained firm and committed and on track to provide impetus for the development of waterways of the region. He also called upon all the stakeholders, including the transporters, EXIM traders, business interests and vessel owners to utilize the opportunity provided by the revamped waterways of the region.
CM Neiphiu Rio and Union Minister 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 would 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 Irrawaddy river), also known as Ningthi river in Myanmar, at Htamanthi in Myanmar. Chindwin 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.
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio while addressing the stakeholders’ conference said that Assam has been tagged as the mother of all the northeastern states including Sikkim who joined lately and were protected under West Bengal’s Eastern Frontier Regulation Act as one component.
With the northeast people coming together in unity, Rio said North East Council (NEC) was formed where special funds are provided to bring forward and develop at par with the central government.
He said the standards of the country has been brought up from bottom to middle and to the front thereby by today listing as the fifth economic power in the world, Rio also shared that the country is targeting for the third and also in tune with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to be called as a developed country by 2047.
Consonant with the vision, Rio said Modi had earlier made a statement “Look East and now Act East” policies, and the union minister, Sonowal’s visit to the state is a “wake-up call” for the state of Nagaland where the people especially the youths are still having the mindset of government job opportune and also dearth of industries or factories due to reasons that no investors are willing to invest into the state due to the long pending Naga political issues.
As in many of his speech he had categorically said that the Nagaland government could relieve of 10 percent and the rest 90 percent has to be contributed by the private sectors.
He also disclosed that the Nagaland government had also proposed and in 2013 railway on this line was approved by the railway board but because of not completing the foothill road in time, the villagers were not willing to part for the railway line projects by asking them to first make the road and then they would part with their lands.
Neiphiu Rio also cited reasons for the same by stating that because of the Naga political issue which remain unresolved till date, however, said that another factor was that the land though rich but remain poor as did not explore the resources.
Nagaland’s deputy chief minister and in-charge of home Y Patton said that the stakeholders’ conference marked significant steps in its efforts to harness the potential of the northeast region through the development of inland waterways.
Stating that the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways, GoI, has taken commendable strides in advancing the regions’ waterways eco-system, Patton highlighted that the conference was an opportunity to reflect on the progress, sharing insights, and chart a course for future development.
He said the northeast region with its vast network of rivers offers a unique chance to enhance trade, tourism, and connectivity, he was optimistic that by developing multimodal terminals, intermodal terminals, fairways, tourist and community jetties, it could transform the northeastern region into a “thriving hub” of economic activity.