National Inland Waterways in India: A Strategic Status Report

The Government of India has recently launched the ambitious National Inland Waterways program that plans to convert 111 rivers or river stretches into large commercial waterways. These waterways represent possibly the largest intervention in and disruption of our rivers, second only to large dams.

This new report examines the scope and extent of the waterways program, its rationale, the legal regime and its adequacy, interventions needed to create and maintain waterways, impacts of these interventions – social, environmental and financial, questions about the viability and desirability of waterways, and raises several key issues and presents suggestions for the way forward.

Authored by Shripad Dharmadhikary and Jinda Sandbhor, Published by Manthan Adhyayan Kendra and SRUTI, New Delhi. Comments and feedback are welcome.

Report, published 30 March 2017.