Question

What is the significance of inland waterways in India?

Answer 1

Hint: Here is no continuous link to the Inland Waterway Network. It involves the construction of a multimodal network consisting of water bodies and roadways, including culverts, bridges, etc. This includes investment in a wide variety of capital construction programmes to be carried out.

Complete answer:
A well-coordinated network of inland waterways could bring about a profound shift in the country's logistical scenario. It reflects a network of ready-made facilities that can be used without any additional spending in resources. No green field investment is needed for the network, but just capex for enhancement/upgradation. By transferring freight away, waterways will decongest roads, like highways.
Waterways do not entail land acquisition issues, which have often been a sensitive issue, creating time and expense overruns on various schemes. Through - the usage of rivers, the massive expenditure that India requires to develop its road/highway infrastructure network can be maintained. To cover the costs of managing the rivers, usage fees may be charged.
Waterways are a quicker mode of transport, which greatly decreases the point-to-point expense of moving goods from the available alternatives. Among the early commercial drivers of pre-independence India was the cargo traffic of tea, jute, and spices in the eastern region, linked to the river port in Kolkata. While the transportation of cargo across waterways has lost importance, the Mandovi-Zuari Cumbarjua method transported over 30 million tonnes of iron ore in recent times.
In post-independent India, growth in cargo via inland waterways has generally been slow, due to lack of policy incentives, infrastructure unavailability, viz. Jetties of waterways, width of channels, number of boats, right of way, etc. This is supposed to increase the movement of commodities across rivers, with a renewed focus on waterway transportation.
However the introduction of the national network of waterways is rife with difficulties. The draught channel for national waterways is not standardised, as is required, at 2 metres during the year. Any of these rivers are seasonal and do not provide year-round navigability. Around 20 of the 111 national waterways listed have recently been found to be unviable.
So the above discussed points highlight the significance of inland waterways in India along with the difficulties.

Note: As each riverine scheme is special and faces multiple obstacles, before taking up implementation, different studies based on a comprehensive micro-level analysis to determine feasibility need to be performed with each one. The implementation of a well-coordinated policy on lines of complementarity between the national network and other waterways not declared as such, as well as between waterways and roads/railways, would be important for an efficient waterway network.