Page No. 35-47: Prospects of Inland Waterways in India

Abstract

With the increasing impacts of the transportation services leading to a lot of damage to the environment, the need to find alternative and sustainable means of transport is at an all-time high. One such method of the task being Transportation through Inland waterways.
India has the potential for development in the sector of inland transportation but the various constraints regarding the geographical conditions in certain areas need consideration before implementation.
Also, considering the implementation barriers, the government also has to calculate appropriately if or not investment in such a high-end project is worth it. Some of the factors that influence the implementation of the Inland waterway transport (IWT) in India are the commercial potential of the system, the operational potential, the traffic or the cargo movement, etc.
For all these factors different steps have to be take but given the growth of major cities (especially port cities), development of water-based transportation has become a necessity. The implementation is also necessary because of the fact that a water-based transport system is not just important for in-city based traffic but also because of its sustainability. Water based transportation today is one of the cleanest modes of transportation and an efficient water transportation system has always boosted the economy of a country as a whole.
This paper aims on discussing the potential of Inland waterway transportation system being developed in India and the various areas that need investments for the same along with the potential of enrichment in all the factors affecting the implementation.