The surge in revenue has been due to various steps taken by the govt for
overall revamping of the inland water transport sector through introduction of
modernised vessels, modernising the existing vessels as well, director of IWT,
Hanif Noorani told TOI on Tuesday.
There are around
89 notified water routes in the state, where passenger movement takes place. The three major
divisions are Guwahati-North Guwahati which has three routes, Jorhat-Majuli
which has two routes and Dhubri-South Salmara with one route.
According data provided by IWT for the financial year 2022-23, Guwahati-North
Guwahati division received over 6,500 passenger footfall daily whereas
Jorhat-Majuli and Dhubri-South Salamara divisions received 3,000 and 1,000
footfall respectively.
“In recent times, the surge in revenue has been witnessed due to various
steps taken to modernise the river transport system. There are numerous factors
which have contributed towards increasing the revenue earned by IWT which
includes overall revamping of the inland water transport sector by
incorporating modern vessels, improving the existing vessels both private and
government ones. Also ensuring proper safety of the measures for the
passengers, IWT has managed to earn their confidence for which they are opting
for this mode of transportation,” said Noorani.
He added that installation of marine engines in wooden boats which has
increased the safety of passengers, introduction of e-ticketing system, which
have stopped “revenue leakage”, increasing ticket prices have also greatly
contributed towards the high revenue generation.
The major chunk of the transportation through waterways in the state is
mostly depended on only passenger movement, as there is not any long-distance
cargo carrying routes in the state. Noorani said, “Although there might be
possibilities of cargo transportation in future, that sector has not been
explored yet. The transportation of goods within divisions, which covers a very
short distance cannot be termed as cargo movement.”
In September last
year, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma launched 10 catamaran vessels with the
capacity to carry 100 passengers and 50 motorcycles at one go, three tug boats and a search and
rescue vessel with an attempt to establish IWT both as a service provider and
as a source of generating revenue.