The progress of land acquisition
for the Jal Marg Vikas projects in Uttar Pradesh Bihar Jharkhand and West
Bengal the beneficiaries of the ambitious shipping ministry’s scheme was
reviewed at the Eighth Project Oversight Committee POC meeting held at Lucknow
on March 20th
Senior officials from Inland
Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), Ministry of Shipping, World Bank and
Governments of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal - the states
through which National Waterway -1, i.e., river Ganga flows, participated in
the meeting.
The POC meetings are held
periodically to enhance coordination among all the stakeholders for
implementation of JMVP on NW-1. Discussions were held and issues related to
land acquisition for JMVP sub-projects in Varanasi, Ghazipur, Kalughat and
Sahibganj were also discussed in the meeting.
Uttar Pradesh is one of the main stakeholder
states of the Jal Marg Vikas Project, where a Rs 169.59 Crore
state-of-the-art multi-modal terminal at Varanasi is being constructed. A
freight village is also proposed separately at Varanasi for which acquisition
of land is in advanced stage. Besides, Intermodal terminal at Ghazipur, ferry
and Ro-Ro terminals at various locations are proposed in U.P.
JMVP
is being implemented with technical and financial assistance of the World Bank
at an estimated cost of Rs. 5,369 crore for plying of vessels with capacity of
1500-2,000 tons. Phase-I of the project covers the Haldia-Varanasi stretch
which includes development of fairway, Multi-Modal Terminals, strengthening of
river navigation system, conservancy works, modern River Information System
(RIS), Digital Global Positioning System (DGPS), night navigation facilities,
modern methods of channel marking etc. |