9 October 2021, NIICE Commentary 7448
Dr. V. Srilatha & Sharath Chandra
Inland navigation is a mode of transport where trade is done through inland waters such as rivers, lakes and canals within a country or sometimes between two or more countries sharing a particular river or river system. Unlike Railways, this is not a new means of transportation as it has been in vogue since time immemorial. Trade and transport through rivers and streams have helped expand civilizations and empires in the past and has served as a good indication of how strong the national economy is.
India, too, had a history of inland trade through major rivers, namely, Ganga and Brahmaputra. Throughout the past, these areas have been amongst the most fertile. The Ganga, in particular, is venerated as it served as an important source of income and livelihood. Many major cities grew up on the river. As a result, inland trade was always prominent as it was safer when compared to travelling on foot. During the British period, this was a key source of transport as it was more affordable and secure when compared to the railways and roadways. Railways were introduced but were not widespread and were largely utilized by the British themselves. The old routes of navigation would start in the upper reaches of Northern India and would go as far as the Calcutta port, through the Ganga while on the other side; Upper Assam would connect itself to the Chittagong port on the Bay of Bengal coast. This would even connect Nepal and Bhutan, although trade was only marginal. The end of British rule and the subsequent partition of the country cut the major trade routes and domestically, India put more focus on expanding railway network and road ways. Today, India’s total trade through inland waterways stands at just 4% when compared to China’s at 47%. European countries, Russia and the United States have also developed this mode of transport as the most efficient, leaving India and South Asian countries far behind.
India’s Domestic Inland Navigation System
India has a complex network of major rivers across the country and more particularly in the Northern and Eastern parts. Inland waterways are governed by a parliamentary law, the Inland Waterways Act, 1985, which established the Inland Waterways authority of India. Several national waterways have been developed across India. The National Waterway 1 or the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly River system, although envisaged much earlier, has been given a renewed focus in recent times. A multi-modal terminal was inaugurated in 2018 at Varanasi with the plan being to connect the city and Prayagraj to Bihar right up to Haldia port in West Bengal. The National Waterway 2 between Sadia-Dhubri across the Brahmaputra River in the northeast. These are among the most prominent in the country. However, the trade taking place through these routes is extremely minuscule when compared to the total inland trade in the country. Apart from this, there are several backwaters and lagoons in Kerala and Goa that, despite their limited size, have dominated water-based inland trade. The parliament of India passed the National Waterways Act, 2016 declaring 111 rivers, stretches, and creeks etc as national highways. This clearly shows an interest in diversifying internal trade. Delhi has also been keen on connecting the region through rivers running through the countries. It has utilized this opportunity with Bangladesh on expanding the waterway network and trade between the two countries through inland waterways. Of the 111 rivers, Koshi and Gandak have been identified as potential waterways to increase trade between India and Nepal.
Inland Waterways: A Strategic Imperative for the Region
Inland transportation is cost-effective in nature. It’s cheaper and much more affordable as you can transport a larger amount of goods over a given distance when compared to railways and roadways. A RITES report suggests that 1 litre of fuel moves 24 tons on road, 95 tons on railways and 215 tons on Inland water transport over a distance of a kilometre1. Further, the freight costs much lesser than on railways and roadways. Considering the low levels of manufacturing in South Asia and a low base of capital, the potential for opportunity costs in adopting this mode of transport is immense.
Bangladesh has built its own waterways through the Meghana river and has tried to connect inland ports like Ashuganj to Chittagong seaport. In the last few years, there has been a genuine effort towards making a link between Bangladesh’s waterways with India’s National waterway 2. The inland ports on Brahmaputra right up until Dhubri, on the border with Bangladesh, would get access to the Bay of Bengal through Chittagong port. This would mean that the North-eastern states of India, which are traditionally lacking in terms of connectivity through land, will now have market access with other states in India as well as with Myanmar and Bangladesh. The India-Bangladesh and India-Myanmar protocols deal with inter-connectivity with respect to inland waters. The Indo-Myanmar protocol envisages multimodal connectivity between Kolkata and Mizoram, through Myanmar. The transit route comprises of shipping transport from Kolkata to Sittwe port, connecting Sittwe to Paletwa and from Paletwa to Lawngtlai, Mizoram. Inland waterways will energize the trade among the three countries, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. In recent years, BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal initiative for multi sectoral, technical, economic cooperation) and BBIN (Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal) have been used by India as a regional alternative to SAARC. From a strategic point of view, this can be seen as an attempt to prevent Pakistan from gaining a foothold. The success of this would propel the Northeast India as the gateway to the East.
Connectivity has been at the centre of Delhi’s neighbourhood first policy. Unlike China, India isn’t in a position to construct a BRI- type largescale investment project. Instead, it relied on expanding its own highways and railway network and tried to connect these to the neighbouring countries. Historically, the Northern and Eastern states of India have always been behind in overall economic development. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal rank low in terms of per-capita income and standard of living. They are also among the most thickly populated stretches of land in the country which makes large connectivity-based infrastructure projects much more difficult. Railway expansion, building up of Highways would involve complex land acquisition issues and is, hence, not a politically viable. Waterways can act as a natural alternative in increasing trade paving the way for connectivity between countries. Development of waterways would mean a reduction in traffic on both roadways and railways. The linking of inland navigation with Sagarmala and Dedicated Freight corridors running through Northern and eastern India would lead to more inter-state trade and swiftly connect landlocked states with ports. This will also help in the reduction of accident prevalence and would lead to the railways going at a faster pace as, currently, complex railway lines have reduced speeds. Inland waterways are also environment friendly as there would be more efficient transportation when compared to the dependence on others means of transport. Most international organizations have put South Asia at a higher risk of climate change and global warming which could lead to more social conflicts and migration. An effective, environment friendly strategy towards inland trade would provide a desired outcome in this respect.
One other country that has recently focussed its attention towards an expanding South Asia wide trade through inland waterbodies is Nepal. The rivers Koshi and Ghandak flow through Nepal to join the Ganga in India. Historically, there exists some distrust among the countries of the region regarding Hydro-electric projects and water storage systems established on the rivers. Some of the issues can be addressed through water-based trade. Nepal faces major issues regarding connectivity. This was seen during the 2015 constitutional crisis. These can be addressed through dependence on inland waterways through the rivers flowing into India which can give it a viable access to the Haldia and Kolkata ports. This will increase Nepal’s trade with India and offset some of India’s concerns regarding Kathmandu’s plans of looking towards China for alternative connectivity through Tibet as well as allay fears of a potential water wars breaking out over the rivers as populations of countries rises putting more pressure on natural resources.
Major Issues Pertaining to Regional Interconnectivity
Regional connectivity is a difficult and politically contentious task. This is applicable to inland water connectivity as well. There exist three important issues that need to be addressed before inland waterway trade can take off. First, most of the regulatory framework that will govern waterway trade is not yet built. Civil society, communities, and governments at the local, provincial, and national levels must work together to decide which issues to prioritize as the framework emerges. While national level bodies governing inland trade exists in India and Bangladesh, a regional level one is yet to be established. Engaging with the Private sector, both at the domestic and international stage will help in building infrastructure in port building, docking, Cargo handling etc. Second, meeting environmental commitments is a crucial aspect as excess traffic through rivers can impact the marine life and cause damage to biodiversity. A proper mechanism is to help build a fuel-efficient trade route and also to minimize the damage caused by oil spills to the rivers, lakes and other such freshwater bodies. Third, government policy should be directed at existing ecosystems and changed livelihood patterns for fishing-centric riverine communities due to increase in inland trade.
Conclusion
Inland transportation is still in its nascent stage in South Asia. As the largest and biggest economy, India until recently has not taken advantage of its large river systems. Though this form of transport is cheap, efficient and doesn’t require largescale public investment, connectivity is a major problem. In spite of the better opportunities to the countries of the region overlapping issues and environment hinder its progress. The opportunities are immense with direct linkages in conjunction with major ports such as Kolkata, Chittagong etc. India has utilized the BBIN and BIMSTEC platforms as alternatives to SAARC which has been a victim of political differences. Inland navigation can add to the growth of the region if, issues such as infrastructure, environmental friendliness and public policy continue to endure despite political overlapping.
Dr. V. Srilatha is Associate Professor at Osmania University, India & Sharath Chandra is Research Scholar at Osmania University , India.
