Business

Inland water transport awaits a big push

The move of the Union Government will help in overcoming procedural hurdles

THOUGH BELATED, the Centre's decision to amend the Inland Vessels Act, 1917, is significant as it could steer the course of the near dormant yet high growth potential inland water transport sector.

The Inland Vessels (Amendment) Bill, 2005, is now before the department-related parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture. The committee, headed by Rajya Sabha member Nilotpal Basu, had set in motion the process of eliciting opinion from the stakeholders.

Whenever the committee's report is tabled in Parliament — sources in the Rajya Sabha secretariat expect that to happen in the ongoing Budget session — it will be much awaited as the Act was amended last time nearly 30 years ago. The changes to the Act from the perspective of developing the sector, enhancing safety of the IWT operations and introducing measures to protect the environment are expected to address the procedural issues.

However, development of the sector will ultimately depend on the flow of investments, both public and private. And, attracting investments in the sector is not an easy task, given certain inherent limitations of inland water transport.

A policy paper, prepared some time ago by the Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry, lists the wide seasonal variations in water level, shallow and narrow waterways, and horizontal and vertical clearances at certain places as the key issues.

The variations in water level, according to the chamber, are as high as 10 metres, which poses navigational hazards due to bank erosion, siltation and channel deterioration. The inadequate interest and investment in the sector is only aggravating the problem. For investors, returns from the sector are limited. The shallow waters and narrow waterways do not make inland navigation feasible round the year.

Moreover, the lack of navigational aids does not permit vessels to ply for more than 12 hours in a day. Yet another drawback of the sector is the horizontal and vertical clearances at certain places leading to under-utilisation of the waterways.

Perhaps, these limitations are behind the policy paper recommending total government responsibility for the inland waterways infrastructure. This underlines increased government investment in developing and maintaining the infrastructure. Though a slow mode of transport, as compared to roads and railways, it is environment friendly. The total length of navigable waterways in India is about 14,500 km, of which 5,700 km is navigable by mechanically propelled vessels.

The success of the IWT, according to sources in the shipping industry, is dependent on various factors, especially the presence of industries near the waterways, and not just government policies. But from the users' perspective, seasonal variations in water levels render this mode unreliable.

Moreover, they can get competitive freight rates from road transporters.

These sources in the shipping industry underscore the need for a multi-pronged approach in which the Government takes the initiative by putting in place the necessary infrastructure.

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What the bill seeks to modify

THE PROPOSED amendment to the Inland Vessels Act of 1917 might just be the right concoction to propel the inland water transport sector in the country.

Taking into account the "important developments" in the sector since the last amendment nearly 30 years ago, the Inland Vessels (Amendment) Bill, 2005 essentially seeks to address the issues confronting the stakeholders. Salient features of the bill include:

* Extension of inland water limits, to facilitate extensive use of inland waters by vessels that otherwise are not permitted to go beyond prescribed limits.

* Dividing the inland water area into three zones based on maximum significant wave height criteria through notification by the respective State governments. This is to facilitate safety of vessels by providing for suitable construction and manning norms based on operating conditions.

* Provision for induction of suitable trained manpower from Army, Navy and Coast Guard to address the problem of manpower shortage in the sector.

* A new chapter to prevent and control pollution, and protect inland waterways.

* Modifying provisions of certain sections pertaining to mechanically propelled vessels.

N. RAVI KUMAR

in Chennai

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