Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal chaired 2nd IWDC Meet in Assam

Current Context: The 2nd Inland Waterways Development Council (IWDC) Meet was held in Kaziranga, Assam, from January 9-10, 2025, under the chairmanship of Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

• The meeting took place in Kaziranga, Assam, and saw the participation of Union Minister of State Shantanu Thakur, Ports Minister of Goa Aleixo Sequeira, and Transport Ministers from Assam, Manipur, Jammu & Kashmir, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Key Announcements:
• Investment: ₹50,000 crore over the next five years
• Projects: Initiatives worth over ₹1,400 crore to boost inland waterways transport network
• National River Traffic and Navigation System (NRT&NS) launched
• Green Vessels: Launch of 1,000 green vessels in the next five years
• Regional Centre of Excellence (RcoE) in Dibrugarh, Assam
• Floating Jetties: Six floating steel jetties on river Godavari (NW 4)
• Riverine Community Development Scheme: To improve socio-economic well-being of coastal communities
• Cargo Handling Capacity: Increased to 133 million metric tonnes in the last ten years
• Future Goals: Increase cargo capacity to 200 million metric tonnes by 2030.

Question:

1 What new system was launched at the 2nd IWDC Meet to enhance navigation on inland waterways?

• A) National Inland Navigation System
• B) National River Traffic and Navigation System (NRT&NS)
• C) Smart River Navigation System
• D) Advanced Inland Waterway System

Answer: B) The NRT&NS was launched to improve the efficiency and safety of river traffic and navigation.