Page 108 - Sugam Sarita

respectively 322.63 and 365.37lakh tonnes in India. The country has

been divided into 20 river units that include 14 major river basins. The
remaining 99 river basins have been grouped into six river units. The
poor planning and neglect of this sector over the decades is reflected
by the fact that the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin which covers

34 percent of the country’s area contributes about 59 percent of the
water resources. The west flowing rivers flowing towards the Indus
that covers 10 percent of the area account for a mere 4 percent of the
resources while the remaining 56 percent of the area contributes 37

percent of the runoff. Clubbed with this geographical picture is also
the fact that India has 7,551 kilometer of coastline and about 14,500
kilometers of navigable inland waterways. This huge potential has by
and large remained unexploited despite the universal acceptance of

the fact that waterways transportation is fuel efficient, environment-
friendly, and more economical as compared to rail and road. As the
current scenario stands, Inland water transport (IWT) has only less
than a 5 per cent share of the total goods transported within the

country through various modes such as rail, road, and water. This
is much less in comparison to other nations which are similarly
blessed with such a vast river network. Let us compare ourselves with
our immediate neighbour China with which we tend to compete

for both on economic and industrial fronts. As against our 14,500
kilometers of navigable inland waterways, China has over one lakh
kilometers of well-honed waterways. This scenario is significant both
from the public and planner’s point of view, when fresh efforts are

afoot to develop inland waterways. The idea behind this endeavour
is to provide relief from the choked road and railways network
with a cheaper option that has the potential to help the economy,
particularly in the rural sector. For instance, in China, 47 percent of

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