Team Herald
VASCO: Union Minister for Shipping Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday reiterated that by developing waterways the Union government has no intention to take over control or authority over rivers from the State government.
“I want to clarify to the people that by developing waterways, the Central government has no intention to take over control or authority over rivers from the State government. We only intend to help the respective State governments make these rivers more navigable and the State government would have powers over the rivers,” he said.
He further said that due to mistaken belief some States create trouble while giving its nod for developing waterways.
“We have allocated Rs 2,000 crore for developing rivers but due to mistaken belief the money cannot be allocated nor could be used by the State government. In Goa we have approved all proposals under the development of waterways and now only the agreement needs to be signed,” he added
Stressing on the need to improve the waterways in the country to cut down the cost of logistics, Gadkari said waterways can play an important role to boost the economy and tourism. “Our country has a 7,500 km long coastline, which can help the development of the nation, while giving tourism a boost. You have seen that the coastline has been a boon to Goa’s tourism and the biggest advantage of tourism is that 49 per cent of the capital investment is utilised for job creation,” he opined
Gadkari said if one wants to travel by road, the cost is Rs 1.5 per km, while it is Re 1 by railways and only 20 paisa by waterways. “Our logistic cost is 8 to 10 per cent higher as compared to China and that is why Indian goods are not competitive in the international market”, he said, adding it is important for the country to reduce logistic cost for which it is essential to develop coastal shipping and inland waterways as alternative modes of transport.
“Therefore, developing the 7,500 km long coastline as a corridor for goods and passenger traffic will be a boost to our economy, and this will also help in reducing pollution, ” he stressed.
Waterway will help foreign and Indian tourists travel to their hotel by boats. As a result diesel consumption will reduce and people will enjoy another component of tourism by travelling over water. This is a win-win situation. This can create new jobs and hence I feel that all hotels should be linked to waterways by creating jetties everywhere,” the Union Minister for Shipping said.
