Team Herald

PANJIM: Captain of Ports (CoP) Department will continue to hold rights over dredging of rivers even as six Goan rivers have been declared as National Waterways. 

While the Goa government has already explained the consequences if the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is not signed, a major gain for the State upon signing the agreement – valid for a period of five years – will be getting back maximum powers to CoP.

“Most of the administrative powers resting with IWAI under the National Waterways Act 2016 will come back to CoP after signing the MoU. It will also give back maximum power to CoP and the State will have 100 percent say in all aspects,” sources in the government told Herald. 

The CoP has proposed dredging of parts of River Sal and River Chapora while around six kms of desilting of River Sal was carried out in 2014-15. A senior government official explained that CoP will have the right to grant or reject permission for dredging even after the tri-partite MoU is signed. For the projects granted a nod by the State, IWAI will be the financer. 

“We have to decide the projects including dredging of the Rivers under the National Waterways. For any project that we agree upon, IWAI will allocate funds,” the source stated. 

As per the draft MoU, CoP will identify and propose various development works to be carried out in the rivers and these will be financed by the IWAI while Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) will be responsible to taking into consideration the technical/financial and environmental/public sensitivities of the State into account. “IWAI and MPT will implement projects in the rivers in agreement with Goa government,” the officer added. 

Similarly, CoP will be free 

to independently carry out any infrastructure development in the National Waterways utilising its own funds and revenue generated thereof will only accrue to the State government. So also, all the existing revenues collected will be solely accrued to CoP.