Water transpotations industry
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13.1 INDUSTRY:
With some 700
rivers and tributaries crisscrossing the country, Bangladesh has one of
the largest inland waterway networks in the world. Inland ports handle about 40
percent of the nation’s foreign trade. The network,
which shrinks during the dry season, connects almost all the country’s major
cities, towns, and commercial centers. Inland water transportation is often the
only mode that serves the poor, proving especially useful during periods of
widespread flooding.
River or lake
cargo operations are an important source of transportation facilitating trade
across the length and breadth of the country. A majority of the districts in Bangladesh
have river facilities, which makes transportation a possibility in most months
of the year. River transport is used mostly to transport dense cargo such as
fertilizers, bricks, sand, mortar, coal, sand, cement clinkers and food grains.
Further fuel products such as Diesel, Gasoline and Kerosene are transported in
barges to fuel depots located within the vicinity of the ports. Cost of
transporting cargo through river ports is cheaper as compared to road and rail
transport which makes river transportation the most suitable form of
transportation for dense cargo.
13.1.1
History:
The use of
waterways by merchandised vessels in Bangladesh began more than 150 years ago.
Lord William Bentinck was the name of the first inland steamer vessel that
propelled in the river Ganges in 1834. The steamer was owned by the Govt. The
India General Navigation and Railway Company Ltd. (IGNR), the first inland
steamer company was floated on February 6, 1844. During the later part of
Nineteenth Century (1880-1899) as many as 898 vessels used to play the route
from Calcutta to Khulna through the Sunderbans per annum which rose to 4,803 in
numbers in the first quarter of twentieth century.
To set up
Authority for development, maintenance and control of inland water transport
and of certain inland navigable waterways the then East Pakistan Government on
31st October 1958 promulgated an ordinance called the East Pakistan Inland
water Transport Authority Ordinance 1958 (E.P. Ordinance, NO LXXV of 1958). On
November 4, 1958 the Government by an order constituted a three member
Authority of East Pakistan Inland Water Transport Authority (EPIWTA). The BIWTA
came in to existence on promulgation of the above ordinance 1958 as the
successor of the former EPIWTA. An advisory committee has subsequently been
constituted to advise the authority in respect of all matters related to
development, maintenance and operation of inland water transport and of inland
waterways in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has
about 24,000 km. of rivers, streams and canals that together cover about 7% of
the country's surface. Most part of the country is linked by a complex network
of waterways which reaches its extensive size in the monsoon period. Out of
24,000 km. of rivers, streams and canals only about 5,968 km. is navigable by
mechanized vessels during monsoon period which shrinks to about 3,865 k.m.
during dry period. The Inland water Transport (IWT) sector carries over 50% of
all arterial freight traffic and one quarter of all passenger traffic.
13.1.2. Status
of inland waterways
The waterways
of Bangladesh have been classified into four categories depending on least
available depth (LAD) ranging from 3.90 m to 1.50m. The detail is mentioned
bellow:
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Name of Route
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Minimum Depth
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Length of Route and Percentage
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Minimum
Vertical Clearance
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Minimum Horizontal
Clearance
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Class- I
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3.66 m
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683 km (11.39%)
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18.30 m
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76.22 m
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Class- II
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2.13 m
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1,027 km (17.13%)
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12.20 m
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76.22 m
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Class -III
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1.52 m
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1,885 km (31.44%)
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7.62 m
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30.48 m
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Class -IV
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Less than 1.52 m
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2,400 km (40.04%)
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5.00 m
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20.00 m
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Total
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5,995 km (100%)
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