In order to promote tourism and simultaneously ease the stress of traffic on roads through operation of inland water transport on River Jhelum in Srinagar, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar Bidhuri on Friday chaired a meeting to review implementation of River Navigation Developmental Project.
Besides Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Dr Bilal Mohi-Ud-Din Bhat, the meeting was attended by Project Coordinator, Inland Waterways Authority of India(IWAI) and other officers.
Project Coordinator, IWAI, gave a detailed presentation regarding the proposal of Development of River Jhelum, Inland Waterway. He informed that Detailed Project Report (DPR) study of River Jhelum (NW-49) was completed in February 2020 which recommended development of river cruise tourism in three phases.
He also informed that the IWAI team inspected Phase-1 stretch (Chhatabal to Pantha Chowk) in August 2024 to explore possibilities of passenger and tourism activities. He stated that the project shall be completed with the assistance of central funding.
The Divisional Commissioner enjoined IWAI for the development of necessary infrastructure including seventeen points for embarking and de-boarding of passengers, carrying out dredging of river, installation of water level monitoring sensors and modern weirs.
He also directed concerned representatives for development of major hubs of Inland water transport.
He underscored the need for a constitution of institutional framework for the operation and regulation of water transport.
He directed SSCL and IWAI to frame the comprehensive proposal for funding besides asking IWAI to share the draft of the plan with the SSCL.
Meanwhile, the meeting also discussed various developmental plans of SSCL including provision of water side infrastructure, terminal facilities, night navigation aids, maintenance of navigational channels, onshore facilities and operation of vessels.