Varanasi’s Rs 169 cr multi-modal terminal by November

Inland Waterways Authority of India is planning to construct a Rs 169.59 crore multi-modal terminal (MMT) at Varanasi. The MMT built under Jal Marg Vikas project is set to be completed by November 2018, which would be a major landmark for the project.

The construction of the Rs 280. 90 crore MMT at Sahibganj is to be completed by May 2019, and the one at Haldia, being constructed at a cost of Rs 517.36 crore, is scheduled to be completed by December 2019.

Jal Marg Vikas is a Rs 5,369 crore World Bank aided project on National Waterway 1 (River Ganga), aimed at augmenting the navigational capacity of the Varanasi to Haldia stretch of the river, to enable commercial navigation of at least 1,500-2,000 ton vessels.

Apart from the three multi-modal terminals, the work on the Rs 359.20 crore state-of-the-art navigational lock at Farakka would be completed by June next year.

Contract for maintenance dredging in the Farakka-Kahalgaon stretch of the river was awarded in April 2018 for Rs 150 crore and work on this has started. The work for construction of two inter-modal terminals on NW-1 at Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh and Kalughat in Bihar will be awarded this year.