Inland waterway in Amaravati to have three terminals

Vijayawada: The land allocation for three inland water transportation terminals under Inland Waterways Project were finalised by the State government. The lands were identified at Muktyala and Ibrahimpatnam in Krishna district and Harischandrapuram in Guntur district and they would be constructed for inland water ways to Amaravati capital.    

The State government expedited navigation plans to Amaravati capital city including operation of cargo vessels and tourism cruises. It identified 8.57 acres at Muktyala, 4.62 acres at Harischandrapuram and 5.5 acres at Ibrahimpatnam.

The land will be acquired under land pooling system and would be handed over to Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI). The three terminals will be constructed with permanent structures and those are important to shift materials from Jaggayyapet to Amaravati for capital city construction.  
Majority of cement companies are located in the surroundings of Jaggayyapet  in Krishna district. Cement can be transported by avoiding traffic snarls towards Vijayawada city for reaching Amaravati capital. One vessel can carry 1,000 tonnes of cement at a time which is equal to transport capacity of 30 lorries. Moreover, the cost is 50 per cent less comparatively to road transport way. The pollution and traffic difficulties can be avoided in the shifting of materials to capital city.

According to plans, the cargo vessels will be operated for transporting cement, iron, bricks, granite and other materials for the needs of Amaravati capital construction. As per the estimates, two lakh to 10 lakh bags of cement is required on daily basis for the construction purposes including needs of private companies in the capital.

On the other hand, the huge quantity of fly ash is available from power generation unit of Narla Tata Rao Thermal Power Station at Kondapalli. The cement companies can get fly ash to use in the manufacture of cement through inland waterway mode. Similarly, the concrete and other materials will be shifted to capital city at the Ferry of Ibrahimpatnam in Krishna district through Krishna river.

Meanwhile, the higher officials committee chaired by Chief Secretary Anil Chandra Punetha took decision on Friday to allot land of three acres for construction of housing project to the employees of Inland Waterways Authority of India also along with land allocation for terminals.