Foundation Stone of Kalughat Intermodal Terminal on National Waterway-1 (Ganga River) at Saran, Bihar

Why in News?

=> Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways and AYUSH Sarbananda Sonowal laid the foundation stone of Kalughat Intermodal Terminal on National Waterway-1 (Ganga River) in Saran, Bihar. Along with this, he also flagged off the inland waterway vessel MV Lal Bahadur Shastri from Patna to Guwahati.

Key Points:

1. Kalughat Intermodal Terminal will be constructed on river Ganga in Saran district of Bihar at a cost of Rs.78.28 crore. The terminal with one berth will have a capacity of 77,000 TEU per year and the terminal is designed to handle container traffic.
2. With the construction of this terminal, the pressure on road transport in North Bihar will be reduced and an alternative route will be available for the transport of cargo in this region, especially for Nepal.
3. Inland waterways vessel MV Lal Bahadur Shastri is carrying 200 metric tonnes of food grains from Gaighat port in Patna to Pandu in Guwahati. It will reach the destination by early March 2022 via Bangladesh.
4. The ship will travel on National Waterway-1 (Ganga River) via Bhagalpur, Manihari, Sahibganj, Farakka, Tribeni, Kolkata, Haldia, Hemnagar. Beyond this, it will cover a distance of 2,350 km via Khulna, Narayanganj, Sirajganj, Chilmari and National Waterway No. 2 of Dhubri and Jogighopa of Indo Bangladesh Protocol (IBP).
5. The pilot movement of food grains on board from Patna (Bihar) to Pandu (Guwahati) will open a new door to the 'Gateway of North East' (Assam) and ensure uninterrupted waterway connectivity to the Northeast region through the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers.
6. With this historic achievement, a new era of development has started for all the states of North-East India. This waterway will pass through those landlocked areas, which have been backward in terms of development for a long time.
7. This waterway not only removes the geographical barrier in the way of progress in this area, but also provides a cheap, fast and convenient transport for trade and people of this region.