Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) plans to construct two additional jetties on Brahmaputra River at Dhubri and Hatsingimari, in Assam at a cost of atleast Rs 70 crore.
The authority may ask Central Public Works Department (CPWD) to construct the jetties. However, it is not known whether proper technical feasibility report and cargo analysis have been undertaken for the proposed jetties. Feasibility study is important because the river is not stable at these two locations.
Also, a steady flow of traffic throughout the year appears to be a remote possibility. At the most, there may be some seasonal cargo. It is further learnt that IWAI owns half a dozen cargo vessels.
It may be recalled that the authority had built two jetties at Pandu, near Guwahati, on the river at a cost of Rs 70 crore a few years ago. The professed objective was to promote cargo movement by the river route to and from that region.
The experience so far leaves much to be desired — only two vessels were handled at the jetties in as many years. Worse, the volume of traffic was so small that the income from the cargo hire did not cover even the cost of fuel. All this despite the availability of transport subsidy in the North East.
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