Summary:
VARANASI/ NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday received a vessel carrying 16 truckloads of food and beverage consignments in containers at Varanasi, which came through Ganga from Haldia, and termed this as the beginning of a "next generation transport network" in India. The government is developing the entire 1,620 km between Allahabad and Haldia as National Waterway-1, which can be used for transport of goods and passengers throughout the year. But after independence we neglected these routes rather than develop them...The waterway will not only be used for transporting cargo but this will also promote tourism and will also connect the religious places in east India to the east Asian countries. Shipping minister Nitin Gadkari said two feet water will be maintained round the year once the project gets completed.Blaming the past governments for neglecting the development of waterways in India, PM said, “There was a time when big vessels used to ply on our rivers. Some historians claim, with this the government has revived water transport for goods carriage through the holy river after almost 150 years.While inaugurating the country's first multi-modal hub on a river bank, which ensures seamless shifting of cargo from vessels to other modes of transport, Modi said, "The movement of this container vessel means the eastern Uttar Pradesh , Poorvanchal and country's eastern part have been linked to the Bay of Bengal.".