BHUBANESWAR: The much-vaunted National Waterway-5 (NW-5) to be established by Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) on river Brahmani is likely to go on trial run soon.
Work on carrying out trials on the stretch from Erada in Jajpur district to Dhamra port has commenced. It would involve movement of vessels along with cargo on the stretch besides loading and unloading operations.
A temporary terminal is being constructed at Erada with vessel berthing, loading and unloading facilities as part of the trials. It would have two cranes for loading and unloading cargo like coal, iron ore and other minerals and steel scrap. The tenders for the cranes is set to be finalised within next few days.
The trials would be part of a technical study to evaluate the river stretch in terms of depth, suitability for different kinds of vessels, cargo payload on them and the like.
This will be a first significant step towards establishment of NW-5 as it would lay the platform for actual work to begin, a senior officer of the Port and Inland Water Transport Department of Odisha said.
The NW-5 will cover a distance of 588 km through Brahmani river, Mahanadi Delta and the East Coast canal. It will link the coal belt of Talcher to Dhamra, while encompassing Charbatia-Dhamra stretch of Matai river, Mangalgadi-Paradip stretch of Mahanadi delta rivers and Geonkhali-Charbatia stretch of East Coast Canal.
The Rs 4209 crore project will cover 371 km of river and 217 km of canal distance and is slated to be completed within seven years. The waterway is proposed to have barrages constructed at every 26 km on Brahmani river to maintain water-level at a minimum of two metre throughout the year. The barrages would allow passage to two 500 tonne vessels at a time.
The waterway will open up an additional transport avenue for mineral and metal cargo to and from Dhamra and Paradip ports. Coal from Talcher to the two ports is the most important cargo potential with a projected 11 million tonne transported per year.