Inland Vessels Bill, 2021
- Posted By
10Pointer
- Categories
Economy
- Published
11th Aug, 2021
-
Context
Parliament passed a new Inland Vessels Bill, 2021 law that will bring uniformity in the rules and regulations that govern the inland waterways and navigation in India. The new bill will replace the century-old Inland Vessels Act, 1917.
Key features of the bill
- The new bill seeks to bring all inland waterways in India and movement of vessels under a central regulatory regime.
- This is aimed at developing India’s inland waterways asa viable, thriving mode of transport for cargo.
- All vessels are to be registered with the respective states or Union Territories.
- The movement and identities of the vessels will be logged in a centrally set database.
- Like motor vehicles, vessels must be insured. The certificate will also mention the inland water zones (areas of operation to be demarcated by states) for such vessels.
- The Centre will prescribe the minimum number of people that must be carried by vessels.
- A fund will be maintained to be used for emergency preparedness, checking of pollution, and boost navigation.
Need of the bill
- The restrictive movement of mechanically propelled vessels lies in the jurisdiction of the state government.
- The requirement of endorsements, non-uniform standards, and regulations which varied from one state to another result in the hindrances and hurdles in seamless navigation across the states and development of the sector.
Criticism of the bill
- Bill takes away a lot of rights of the states and vests them in the hands of the Centre.
Inland Waterway in India
- India has around 15,000 km of inland waterways network that comprise rivers, channels, backwaters, creeks, etc.
- In 2016, 111 inland waterways were notified as National Waterways of India under the National Waterways Act, 2016.
- Of these, 13 National Waterways are operational for shipping and navigation and cargo/passenger vessels are moving on them, according to the government.
- The Inland Waterways Authority of India which comes under the Ministry of Shipping is developing the National Waterways forcommercial navigation, with assistance from World Bank.
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Details of Operational National Waterways
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Sl. No.
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National Waterway (NW) No.
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Length (km)
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Location (S)
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1.
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NW-1: Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly River System (Haldia - Allahabad)
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1620
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Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal
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2.
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NW-2: Brahmaputra River (Dhubri - Sadiya)
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891
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Assam
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3.
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NW-3: West Coast Canal (Kottapuram - Kollam), Champakara and Udyogmandal Canals
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205
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Kerala
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4.
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NW-4: Phase-1development of the stretch Muktiyala to Vijyawada of river Krishna
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82
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Andhra Pradesh
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5.
6.
7.
8.
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Waterways in Maharashtra
i) NW-10 (Amba River)
ii) NW-83 (Rajpuri Creek)
iii) NW-85 (Revadanda Creek - Kundalika River System)
iv) NW-91 (Shastri river–Jaigad creek system)
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45
31
31
52
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Maharashtra
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9.
10.
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National Waterways in Goa
NW-68 – Mandovi – Usgaon Bridge to Arabian Sea (41 km)
NW-111 – Zuari– Sanvordem Bridge to Marmugao Port (50 km).
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41
50
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Goa
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11.
12.
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National Waterways in Gujarat
NW-73- Narmada river-
NW-100- Tapi river
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226
436
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Gujarat &Maharastra
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13.
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Sunderbans Waterways (NW-97): Namkhana to AtharaBankiKhal in West Bengal.
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172
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West Bengal
(through Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route)
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