The 6 Inland National Waterways of India

India has a large network of water bodies in the form of rivers, Lakes, Canals and backwaters. These long waterways are provides a good mode of transport across the cities as well as towns, like backwaters of Kerala, Canals in Gujarat and few waterways in Goa, West Bengal and  Assam.

Still these inland waterways are un-utilized in India as compare to other countries in the world, Inland Waterways Authority of India is working on new projects for waterways and better water transportation in India.

National Waterway 1

National Waterway 1 or NW1 will starts from Allahabad to Haldia with an distance of  1620 km. The NW 1 run through the Ganges, Bhagirathi and Hooghly river system with having fixed terminals at Haldia,Farrakka and Patna and floating terminals  at most of the riverside cities like Kolkata,Bhagalpur,Varanasi and Allahabad. It will be the longest National Waterway in India.

National Waterway 2

National Waterway 2 will a stretch on Brahmaputra river from Sadiya to Dhubri in Assam state. The NW 2 is one of the major freight transportation waterway of north east India and the third longest Waterway with an total length of 891 km.

National Waterway 3

National Waterway 3 or the West Coast Canal is located in Kerala state and run from Kollam to Kottapuram. The 205 km long West Coast Canal is India’s first waterway with all time navigation facility. The NW3 is consist of  West Coast Canal, Champakara Canal and Udyogmandal Canal and runs through Kottappuram,Cherthala, Thrikkunnapuzha Kollam and Alappuzha.

National Waterway 4

National Waterway 4 is connect Kakinada to Pondicherry through Canals,Tank and River Godavari along with Krishna river. The NW 4 the second longest waterway of India with total lenght of 1095 km in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

National Waterway 5

National Waterway 5 connects Orissa to West Bengal using the stretch on Brahmani River,East Coast Canal,Matai river and Mahanadi River Delta. The 623 km long canal system will handle the traffic of cargo such as coal, fertilizer, cement and iron.

National Waterway 6

National Waterway 6 is the proposed waterway in Assam state and will connect  Lakhipur to Bhanga in river Barak. The 121 km long waterway will help in trading between town of Silchar to Mizoram State.