Patna to be developed as river cruise hub: Minister

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Patna: A ship repair centre will be established in Patna and 16 community jetties will be developed across Bihar, Union ports, shipping and waterways minister Sarbananda Sonowal announced on Monday.
He was speaking at the first-ever workshop on national waterways held in Patna.
Sonowal said a dedicated task force would be constituted within a month to explore the potential of inland waterways in the state. "A shipbuilding centre will also be set up and water metro projects will be launched in Bihar. Kalu Ghat in Saran will be developed into a state-of-the-art waterways centre," he said.
The workshop, organised by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), was attended by representatives from Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Union minister Giriraj Singh and Bihar deputy CM Samrat Choudhary were also present, along with stakeholders from the cargo and cruise industries.
Highlighting the Centre's commitment to boosting riverine transport, Sonowal said, "New projects will come up in 12 districts situated along the Ganga. A special task force will be formed to identify opportunities for inland waterways." This announcement followed a request by deputy CM Choudhary to introduce a Patna Water Metro service to promote water transport and river tourism.
"The earlier govts neglected inland water projects, but the Modi govt has accelerated their development by investing more than Rs 6,000 crore. As a result, the department has recorded a 700% progress so far. By 2029, India will become the third-largest economy in the world and Bihar will play an important role in this journey," Sonowal added.
Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary said, "The connectivity and industries in districts along the Ganga will give a new dimension to employment, tourism, and trade in Bihar," he said, adding that the state govt has already allocated land for ship and cruise repair facilities.
The deputy CM also demanded the construction of a multimodal terminal in Bhagalpur. He said Bihar has also received PM Modi's support in flood control and development of irrigation facilities. He said the Nitish govt has done so much work on flood control that now there is no severe flood even if 6 lakh cusecs of water come from Nepal.
Choudhary called for speedy implementation of the intermodal terminal at Kalu Ghat (Saran), 21 community jetties and a quick pontoon opening mechanism (QPOM) at Ara. He also stressed the need for ship repair facilities in Patna under the Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) and National Waterway 1 (NW-1), covering the 1,620km stretch of the Ganga from Haldia to Varanasi.
He added that two Ro-Pax passenger vessels of the Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation had been deployed to explore river tourism opportunities in the state.

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