North-East Region

North East India has many large and small rivers providing facilities for water transport (especially in its plain parts and in flat river valley of the large rivers in hills). From the ancient period till proper road connectivity were constructed, river Brahmaputra and Barak were commonly used as mode of transportation of goods and passengers. During the British period, Brahmaputra River and Barak- Surma –Kushiyara - Meghna river systems were extensively used for transport and trade between North-East (NE) India and Kolkata port. These rivers became important carriers of trade with the growth of tea industry.

It is estimated that NE region has about 1800 km of river routes that can be used by streamers and large country boats. The inland water transport departments of both the state and central governments have been trying to improve the water transport system in the region. The river Brahmaputra has several small river ports (terminals) like Guijan, Dibrugarh, Neamati, biswanath ghat, Silghat, Tezpur, Pandu-Guwahati, Jogighopa and Dhubri. There are more than thirty pairs of ferry-ghats on river Brahmaputra used for transporting passengers and material besides the above river terminals.  The river Barak has also small ports at Karimganj and Badarpur along with ferry services at several places.

Besides, the major tributaries of river Brahmaputra namely Lohit, Dhansiri, and Subansiri, rivers of Tripura namely Gumti and Haora, Tizu river in Nagaland, Tlawng, Khawthlangtuipui river in Mizoram etc., being explored for navigation potential and for development for better utilization of both cargo and passenger transportation.

During the year 2016, by National Waterways Act, 2016, twenty (20) waterways of NER were declared as National Waterways. These include one existing (NW2) and 19 new NWs. NW-2, i.e. River Brahmaputra between Dhubri (Bangladesh Border) and Sadiya (Assam) was declared as NW-2 in the year 1988 and several projects for developing inland water transport infrastructure namely fairway terminals and navigation aids have been completed by IWAI thereon.

These NWs together provide hinterland connectivity to states of Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh also and connect these States with mainland India through Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route. North Eastern Waterways also hold significant importance in terms of enhanced trade & commerce across neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh, Bhutan and ASEAN countries.
 

The North East Region Cell operates as the central hub within IWAI for inland water transport initiatives in the north-eastern states. Its core functions include planning, implementation, coordination and promotion of waterway-based commerce and connectivity.

The North East Region Cell’s initiatives align with national priorities to:

The North Eastern Region has significant cargo movement potential, much of which can be shifted to inland waterways to enhance cost-efficiency and logistics sustainability:

A 2017 IWAI study indicates that approximately 49 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) of cargo moves in and out of the North East, and ~30 MMTPA moves within the region. Of this, an estimated 8 MMTPA is divertible to inland waterways with appropriate infrastructure and incentives.

Diversion of cargo to waterways such as National Waterways-2 (Brahmaputra) and NW-16 (Barak River) offers hinterland penetration into lower Assam, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram and Nagaland and can facilitate EXIM cargo movement to/from Bangladesh.

Current cargo operations on NW-2 include movement of building materials, food grains and fertilisers, with annual volumes in excess of six lakh tonnes, demonstrating early traction in waterborne freight operations.