Multi-modal terminal to ease congestion
Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways flagged off two cargo vessels from Varanasi and laid foundation stone of the Multi-Modal Terminal.
The minister flagged off two vessels viz. MV Joy Basudev (capacity 1400 tonnes) and MV V.V Giri (capacity 300 tonnes), containing newly assembled cars of Maruti Suzuki and construction material on August 12, 2016. He said this will reduce road traffic congestion and will cost less. The route between Varanasi and Haldia will also join Allahabad and Kanpur in the future, Gadkari added.
National Waterway-1 (NW-1) is being developed under the Jal Marg Vikas Project, with assistance from the World Bank at an estimated cost
`4,200 of crore. The project would enable commercial navigation of vessels with capacity of 15002,000 DWT Tonnage from Varanasi to Haldia.
Phase-I of the project covers the Haldia-Varanasi stretch. The project includes development of fairway, construction of new MultiModal Terminals at Varanasi, Haldia, and Sahibganj, strengthening of open river navigation system, conservancy works, modern River
NW-1 is a waterway of national significance passing through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, potentially serving the major cities of Haldia, Howrah, Kolkata, Bhagalpur, Patna, Ghazipur, Varanasi, Allahabad and their industrial hinterlands including several industries located along the Ganga basin.
The rail and road corridors of this region are already saturated. Hence, the development of NW-1 would result in a viable economical, efficient and eco-friendly mode of transport thereby helping in economic development of this region. Gadkari also lay the foundation stone for the Multi Modal Terminal at Ramnagar, Varanasi. Apart from this, three road projects, Varanasi-Jamur NH 56; VaranasiAzamgarh NH 233, VaranasiGazipur NH 29 were also inaugurated. Additionally, other road projects linking Varanasi were also approved. The cargo handling capacity of the Terminal on completion of Phase 1 is estimated to be 1.2 million metric tonnes per annum (MTPA).