Context:
The government on Sunday (December 15, 2024) unveiled a major policy for cargo promotion, ‘Jalvahak’, to boost long haul cargo movement via inland waterways across National Waterways (NW) on rivers Ganga, Brahmaputra and Barak.
Key Highligts:
- Ministry:
- Union Minister for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways: Sarbananda Sonowal
- India launches its first scheduled cargo service from Haldia for National Waterway (NW) 1 and NW 2.
- The service runs along the stretch of Kolkata Patna Varanasi Patna Kolkata and also includes Kolkata and Pandu in Guwahati on NW 2 on the Indo Bangladesh Protocol Route (IBPR).
- This is an initiative by aimed at focusing on moving cargo through waterways while decongesting existing railway and roadway networks.
