IWAI sets up new Regional Office at Varanasi

Tags: National News

Why in the news?

• The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) under the Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has upgraded its existing sub-office at Varanasi to a full-fledged Regional Office on January 23, 2025. 

Important points:

• IWAI presently hasfive regional offices in Guwahati (Assam), Patna (Bihar), Kochi (Kerala), Bhubaneswar (Odisha) and Kolkata (West Bengal). It will now have its sixth regional office in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
• The Varanasi regional office with its sub-office at Prayagraj will oversee works in 487-kilometre stretch from Majhua to Varanasi MMT (Multi-Modal Terminal) and further up to Prayagraj, apart from other NWs in Uttar Pradesh.
• Implementation of the World-Bank supported Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) will be one of its key priorities. 
• JMVP is aimed at the capacity augmentation of River Ganga, i.e., NW-1 through various river conservancy works like bandalling and maintenance dredging in addition to already constructed MMT at Varanasi to promote cruise tourism and smooth cargo movement along the waterway. 
• Three Multi-Modal Terminals – one each at Varanasi, Sahibganj and Haldia along with an Inter-Modal Terminal at Kalughat and a new navigational lock at Farakka in West Bengal have been built under JMVP to facilitate easy navigation along River Ganga. 

Objectives:

• The decision is aimed at streamlining IWAI projects and related works in the state of Uttar Pradesh. For effective implementation of Inland Water Transport (IWT) activities in National Waterway-1 (NW-1), River Ganga,
• There are about 30 rivers in Uttar Pradesh, of which ten have been declared as National Waterways.
•  The Varanasi Regional Office of IWAI shall look after development works not only on River Ganga but its various tributaries and other national waterways in Uttar Pradesh.
•  These include rivers like Betwa, Chambal, Gomti, Tons, Varuna and parts of Gandak, Ghaghra, Karamnasa and Yamuna rivers.
• IWAI’s Varanasi Regional Office will also be coordinating with the State IWT Authority set up for development of waterways in Uttar Pradesh.  
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