National Waterway 4 (NW-4) is a long

waterway A waterway is any Navigability, navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other ways. A first distinction is ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It has been declared as an Indian National Waterway and is currently under development. It connects the Indian states of

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, and the

union territory Among the states and union territories of India, a Union Territory (UT) is a region that is directly governed by the Government of India, central government of India, as opposed to the states, which have their own State governments of India, s ...

of Puducherry. The NW-4 runs along the Coromandal Coast through

Kakinada Kakinada (; formerly known as Cocanada) is a Port, port city and municipal corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Situated along the Bay of Bengal, it serves as the headquarters of Kakinada district and is a prominent economic and c ...

Eluru Eluru ( ) is a city and the district headquarters of Eluru district in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the List of municipal corporations in India#Andhra Pradesh, 14 municipal corporations ...

, Commanur,

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of ...

Canals and also through part of

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

and

Godavari The Godavari (, �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga River and drains the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakeshwar, Nashik, Maharash ...

rivers in

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

. It was declared a National Waterway on 24 November 2008 under the Provisions of National Waterways Bill, 2006. It is being developed by the

Inland Waterways Authority of India Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the statutory authority in charge of the waterways in India. It was constituted under IWAI Act-1985 by the Parliament of India.http://iwai.nic.in/showfile.php?lid=882 See section 3 of the act Its he ...

(IWAI), and was scheduled for completion by 2013. The National Waterways Act, 2016 has extended the length of NW-4 from to by connecting the Krishna and Godavari Rivers. The Project would be undertaken in 3 phases with first phase beginning in October, 2017 and to be completed by June, 2019

History

National waterways in India

In India, the national waterways are developed by the

central government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or deleg ...

through the

(IWAI) – the regulatory body for the Inland Waterways Transport (IWT) sector. IWAI was set up by the Inland Waterways Authority of India Act in 1985 and given responsibility of development, maintenance, and regulation of national waterways in the country. It is a statutory autonomous body for regulating and developing navigation and shipping in the inland waterways. Along with IWAI, Central Inland Water Transport Corporation (CIWTC) also supports the IWT sector through transportation of cargo via inland waterways and the operation and maintenance of the vessels and waterway terminals. The first national waterways established in India were the NW-1,2 & 3 (est. in mid 1980s & 1993). They have a combined length of .

Development of NW-4, 5, and 6

As early as 1993–95, IWAI commenced studies for developing an integrated canal linking Kakinada and Chennai. The Indian government initiated the process for developing three more national waterways in 2005. In July 2006, T. R. Baalu, the Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways announced the proposal for development of NW-4 in the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

. In addition to the three existing national waterways, the government also declared the following inland waterways as national waterways: * NW-4:

Pondicherry Pondicherry, officially known as Puducherry, is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of the Puducherry (union territory), Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the southeast coast of Indi ...

canals along with

and

rivers () * NW-5: East Coast Canal along with Brahmani river and Mahanadi delta () * NW-6: River Barak () The proposals were made into law with the passage of The Inland Vessels (Amendment) Bill, 2005 in 2007. In October 2008, another bill – the National waterways Bill, 2006 – was passed in Parliament. It declared the

stretch of canals comprising the Kakinada canal,

canal, Commamur canal,

Buckingham canal The Buckingham Canal is a -long fresh water navigation canal, that parallels the Coromandel Coast of South India from Kakinada of Andhra Pradesh to Parangipettai near Chidambaram of Tamil Nadu. The canal connects most of the natural backw ...

, the Kaluvelly tank,

Bhadrachalam Bhadrachalam is a census town in Bhadradri Kothagudem district in the Indian state of Telangana. It is an important Hindu pilgrimage town with the Bhadrachalam Temple of Rama, situated on the banks of Godavari River. It is located east of sta ...

Rajahmundry Rajahmundry ( ), officially Rajamahendravaram, is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and district headquarters of East Godavari district. It is the fifth most populated city in the state. During British rule, the district of Rajahmu ...

stretch of rivers

, Wazirabad-

Vijayawada Vijayawada ( ), formerly known by its colonial name Bezawada, is the second largest city and a major commercial hub in the Andhra Pradesh state of India. The city forms an integral part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is situated on th ...

stretch of river Krishna in

, and Puducherry as national waterways. It will take seven years and for the completion of the proposed new national waterways. The national waterway will be owned by Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and will be operated by Central Inland Water Transport Corporation (CIWTC)

Course

The National Waterway NW-4 comprises nearly of

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

and of river sections. In turn, the river section of the NW-4 comprises two major sections: * Godavari River section * Krishna River section. The Godavari River section stretches from

to Dowleiswaram,

. The Krishna River section stretches from Wazirabad

Nalgonda district Nalgonda district is a district in the Telangana state of India. Nalgonda district has the highest number of mandals in the state with 31 mandals. The district shares boundaries with Suryapet district, Suryapet, Rangareddy, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, ...

, Telangana to

Prakasam Barrage The Prakasam Barrage stretches 1223.5 m across the Krishna River connecting Vijayawada and Guntur district, Guntur districts in Andhra Pradesh, India. The Barrage (dam), barrage serves also as a road bridge and spans over a lake. The three canal ...

, Andhra Pradesh. The canal section of NW-4 is formed by a combination of the Kakinada canal, the

canal, Commamur canal, and the

. The Kakinada canal runs between

and

for a length of . Starting from Dowleiswaram on the left bank of the river Godavari through a head sluice and lock to Kakinada (approx. downstream from Kakinada Port). The canal gets its water from the Godavari river through the Dowleiswaram barrage and thereafter connects Kakinada anchorage port. It connects the Godavari river section from

. The Eluru canal comprises two distinct irrigation-cum – navigation canals, namely the Krishna Eluru canal of the eastern Krishna delta and the Godavari Eluru canal of western Godavari delta. It runs between

to Vijjeswaram lock at Sir Arthur Thomas Cotton Barrage for a total distance of . The Krishna Eluru canal takes off from the river section on the left bank of Krishna river on the upstream of Prakasam barrage through a head sluice at Vijayawada and meets Godavari Eluru canal at east Tammileru lock at

. The Godavari Eluru canal takes off from the River section of river Godavari at Vijjeswaram () in Rajahmundry on the upstream of Dowleiswaram anicut through a head sluice and joins Krishna Eluru canal at East Tammileru lock. The Commamur canal runs between Vijayawada Seethanagaram lock and Peddaganjam lock for a total length of It takes off from the Krishna River section in river Krishna in Vijayawada on the right side upstream off

Prakasam barrage The Prakasam Barrage stretches 1223.5 m across the Krishna River connecting Vijayawada and Guntur district, Guntur districts in Andhra Pradesh, India. The Barrage (dam), barrage serves also as a road bridge and spans over a lake. The three canal ...

through a head sluice at Seethanagaram and joins the Buckingham canal at Peddaganjam Lock near

Ongole Ongole (), natively known as Ongolu, is a city in Prakasam district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Prakasam district. It is known for Ongole cattle, an indigenous breed of oxen. Etymology The name 'Ongole' i ...

. The

is a tidal canal stretching from Peddaganjam lock to

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

and further down south up to

Marakkanam Marakkanam is a coastal Selection Grade panchayat town & Taluk in Viluppuram district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is well connected to the state capital Chennai and the nearby union territory of Puduch ...

. The stretch of the canal from Peddaganjam lock to Chennai for a length of is called "North Buckingham canal" and the canal path from

for a total length of is called "South Buckingham canal". It was constructed during the 19th century along the Coromandal Coast.

is connected to the Sea (

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

) at

by the Kalluvelly tank. The lengths of the NW-4 in Andhra Pradesh,

, and Puducherry are as follows:

Geographical boundaries

Development

The concept of National Waterways was introduced in 1982 to promote the development of inland water transport in the country. At present, out of six declared National Waterways, developmental works are being carried out on NW-1, 2, and 3 only by Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI). The first three National Waterways (NW-1, 2 & 3) are being developed for shipping and navigation by providing basic inland transport infrastructural facilities, including navigational channel with required depth and width, aids for day and night navigation, and terminals at selected locations for berthing and loading/unloading of vessels. In NW-1 & 2, IWAI undertakes river conservatory works to provide navigational channel of , , and depth in different stretches during the low water period. In NW–3, IWAI is carrying out

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing d ...

to provide a navigational depth and width of and , respectively. Development works are being carried out with the objective of making all three National waterways fully operational with cargo and other inland vessels by March 2012. For National Waterways 4 and 5, IWAI initiated the proposals for development in July 2010. Techno-economic studies for establishment of National Waterways NW-4 was done by Water And Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS), a subsidiary of Ministry of Water Resources The completion period for NW-4 was estimated at seven years by Detailed Project Report prepared by WAPCOS, which is contrary to that of 2002 estimates which indicated five years as completion period. of land are required for NW-4 construction; , , and land has to be acquired in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Puducherry respectively.

Traffic

A. F. Ferguson was appointed by WAPCOS for conducting traffic studies for proposed waterway in 2005–06.

Current traffic

There is no significant traffic in the waterway except for movement of country boats which carry local produce. The main reason for lack of IWT movement is the absence of other infrastructure facilities and coordinated effort for improvements.

Potential traffic

NW-4 has been divided into four major cargo belts, namely

belt,

belt, South

belt, and

belt. Based on the survey conducted by WAPCOS, the 11 million tonnes of cargo is expected to be transported through NW-4 every year. Types of cargo include

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

, foodgrains,

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

fertilisers A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrition, plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from Liming (soil), liming materials or other non- ...

, forest products,

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

, and other

bulk cargo Bulk cargo is Product (business), product cargo that is transported packaging, unpackaged in large quantities. Description Bulk cargo refers to material in either liquid or granular, particulate (as a mass of relatively small solids) form, ...

. The Godavari River system flows through the

forests and

deposits. The

Krishna River The Krishna River in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau is the third-longest in India, after the Ganga, Ganga and Godavari. It is also the fourth-largest in terms of water inflows and river basin area in India, after the Ganga, Indus and Godav ...

flows through

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

deposits and

industries at Jaggayyapeta.

Krishna River (Wazirabad – Vijayawada)

Guntur Guntur (), natively spelt as Gunturu, is a city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district. The city is part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is lo ...

has abundant resources of limestone which are of use in cement and steel industries. Main consumers of limestone are nearby situated

and

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

industries like ACC, Andhra Cement, Parthasarathy Cements & Industries Ltd and Gauthami Cements as well as Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.

Godavari River (Bhadrachalam – Rajahmundry )

The

is a substantially available commodity in this stretch due to its nearness to Singareni Collieries (SCCL) mines. Coal fields are located in Kothagudem,

Manuguru Manuguru is a census town and mandal in Bhadradri Kothagudem district in the Indian state of Telangana. It falls under the Mahaboobabad Parliamentary constituency and the Pinapaka Assembly constituency. Manuguru is an urban area situated on t ...

and

Yellandu Yellandu is a town in Bhadradri Kothagudem district of the Indian state of Telangana. It is located in Yellandu mandal of Kothagudem revenue division. Geography Yellandu has an average elevation of . A coal seam and open pits run through ...

Rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

has a huge traffic potential in this downstream route up to

. In the upstream direction, traffic potential will be gained by transportation of forest products,

wood pulp Pulp is a fibrous Lignocellulosic biomass, lignocellulosic material prepared by chemically, semi-chemically, or mechanically isolating the cellulose fiber, cellulosic fibers of wood, fiber crops, Paper recycling, waste paper, or cotton paper, rag ...

where major paper mills lik
ITC Bhadrachalam
and Andhra Pradesh paper mill
(APPML)
are located. Apart from this, many small paper mills are located in the

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

and West Godavari districts.

Kakinada Canal

Main cargo to be transported in downstream direction from

kakinada Kakinada (; formerly known as Cocanada) is a Port, port city and municipal corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Situated along the Bay of Bengal, it serves as the headquarters of Kakinada district and is a prominent economic and c ...

rajahmundry Rajahmundry ( ), officially Rajamahendravaram, is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and district headquarters of East Godavari district. It is the fifth most populated city in the state. During British rule, the district of Rajahmu ...

are

fertilizer A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Man ...

and

rock Phosphate Phosphorite, phosphate rock or rock phosphate is a non- detrital sedimentary rock that contains high amounts of phosphate minerals. The phosphate content of phosphorite (or grade of phosphate rock) varies greatly, from 4% to 20% phosphorus pentox ...

. In the upstream direction, rice bran extractions, cement clinker and

fertilizers A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrition, plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from Liming (soil), liming materials or other non- ...

will be the main cargos for transportation.

Eluru Canal

Rice and other food grains, rice bran extractions,

and other general cargo are the substantive commodities which can boost the IWT in this stretch.

Commanur Canal

The stretch from

to Peddaganjam (

) is a vital trade link connecting Kakinada belt with south A.P and

. The major towns in the vicinity capable of promoting IWT are

Tenali Tenali is a city in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality, and the headquarters of Tenali mandal and Tenali revenue division. The city is renowned for art, culture, drama, and hence, it is called "Andhra ...

and

. Main traffic in the downward direction are rice and food grains. Forest products will form traffic in the upstream direction.

North Buckingham Canal

The canal can form significant traffic because of salt pans located all along the canal stretch. Rice, food grains,

chili pepper Chili peppers, also spelled chile or chilli ( ), are varieties of fruit#Berries, berry-fruit plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for their pungency. They are used as a spice to ...

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

and

vegetables Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including flowers, fruits, ...

in the downstream direction from Peddaganjam to

. In the upstream direction from

to Peddaganjam, the main traffic consists of fertilizers from Madras Fertiliser
(MFL)
plant located at

Ennore Ennore, also spelt , is a neighbourhood in Chennai, India. Ennore is situated on a peninsula and is bounded by the Kosasthalaiyar River, Korttalaiyar River, Ennore Creek and the Bay of Bengal. The creek separates south Ennore from the north Enno ...

and

from

South Buckingham Canal and Kaluvelly Tank

The canal stretch from Basin bridge up to

can constitute significant traffic of salt and marine products because of salt pans and

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...

shrimp farms all along the route. In the upstream direction from

via

, the main traffic consists of salt, fertilizers and timber from

Thiruvallur Tiruvallur is a Grade I municipality in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of Coovum river about from downtown Chennai ( Madras) in the western part of the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA). It is a satellite tow ...

Kanchipuram Kanchipuram (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: '; ), also known as Kanjeevaram, is a stand alone city corporation, satellite nodal city of Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from ...

, Villupuram and Pondicherry.

NW-4 as Natural Barrier

The stretch of

Buckingham Canal The Buckingham Canal is a -long fresh water navigation canal, that parallels the Coromandel Coast of South India from Kakinada of Andhra Pradesh to Parangipettai near Chidambaram of Tamil Nadu. The canal connects most of the natural backw ...

saved thousands of lives in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu along the coromandal coast from

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

waves, that occurred on 26 December 2004. Dr. B. Ramalingeswara Rao of National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI),

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

reports that the Buckingham Canal acted as a

buffer zone A buffer zone, also historically known as a march, is a neutral area that lies between two or more bodies of land; usually, between countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them. Common types o ...

and regulated the tsunami waves on the coastal region over from Pedda Ganjam to

. The tsunami waves drifted away towards the existing low-lying creeks at several places. The canal from

(

) to Durga Raya Patnam near

Nellore Nellore, also spelt as Nelluru, is a city located on the banks of Penna River, in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, India.km, whereas developing a railway or roadway costs around – per km. As per estimates drawn by consultants M/s RITES in 2002, the project will cost and facilitate movement of 100

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

vessels in the irrigation canal portion and 350

in the rivers and Buckingham canal portion. The cost was re-estimated by WAPCOS in 2009 to , which involves two phase development of the project. Phase one of the project envisages development of a stretch comprising Godavari and Krishna rivers, and Kakinada and Eluru canals, which has maximum cargo potential, at an estimated cost of and land acquisition for remaining stretch at an estimated cost of . Phase two of the project involves development of North and South Buckingham Canal, Commamur canal, and Kaluvelly Tank at an estimated cost of . In the Tenth Five-Year Plan, Planning Commission has increased the budgetary provision for the development of inland water transport infrastructure to , against in the Ninth Five-Year Plan. For the year 2009–2010, the government has released the following funds through Ministry of Shipping for development of IWT. * as a grant to IWAI for development and maintenance of National Waterways (NW 1,2,3,4 & 5).And also for undertaking projects related to IWT promotion, training, IT activities etc. * has been released for Technical Studies and R&D activities. * has been released for Inland Vessel Building Subsidy Scheme. * has been released for Central Sector Schemes for IWT Development in North Eastern Region.

Delay in the project

Common factors attributable for delay in development of IWT are lack of infrastructure, absence of fixed scheduled services, poor navigational aids, lack of connectivity, longer river distances, multiple handling, and limited flow of private investments. The Eleventh Five-Year Plan envisaged development of six national inland waterways. Although the government demarcated five such National Waterways, the shipping ministry is unable to start the work on developing two of them (NW-4 & NW-5), as Planning Commission has not approved the development plans until now. Ministry of Shipping awaits the sum of that it needs to carry out the development works. As a result of the delay in getting the Planning Commission approval and the funds, the ministry has suspended the plans for developing the sixth national inland waterway.

References

{{Indian Waterways Network Waterways in India Transport in Andhra Pradesh Transport in Puducherry Transport in Tamil Nadu Transport in Kakinada