Guwahati, March 9: The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has for the first time sought help from private companies to maintain the required depth of 2.5 metres on stretches of National Waterway 2 (Brahmaputra) to allow easy movement of vessels.
The authority is looking for private operators to help maintain the necessary depth in the Silghat-Neamati stretch of NW2 (Brahmaputra) for five years. Dredgers are used to clear a channel to allow movement of vessels.
The Brahmaputra, having a length of 891km between Bangladesh border and Sadiya, was declared National Waterway 2 in 1988.
"The step has been taken so that private operators start using the Brahmaputra for sending cargo. Unless a certain depth is assured for cargo movement, the operators are not willing to move on the river," a senior official of IWAI told this correspondent.
The official said there was a huge potential for transporting project cargo (cement and steel) and over-dimensional cargo for the upcoming hydro-electric projects on the tributaries of the Brahmaputra. "Many companies wish to send their cargo through NW2 and for this we want to provide them an assured depth," he added.
Jute, cement, steel, fertilisers, bitumen, building material, fuel, foodgrains, salt and forest products are the main cargo moved on NW2.
The IWAI had recently taken up two major projects on NW2. The projects are development of a Rs 50.76-crore ship repair facility at Pandu and the commencement of ro-ro ferry service between Dhubri and Hatsingimari.
The official said waterways officials try their best to maintain the depth necessary for easy movement of vehicles but cannot do so for various reasons.
He said private operators would have to submit a detailed note on the methodology for providing 2.5 metres assured depth by indicating the number of dredging units, disposal of dredged material, channel marking for demarcation of deeper channel in the Silghat-Neamati stretch.
The companies will have to give proof of availability of suitable cutter suction dredgers, work boat, house boats pipelines with all necessary accessories and logistics, mobilisation time and capacity of the dredger, among others, to undertake the work. The bidders will have to furnish evidence of access to lines of credit of Rs 20 crore to undertake the work in the Silghat-Neamati stretch.
The average annual financial turnover during the last three years, ending March 31 of the 2014-15 fiscal, should be at least Rs 94 crore to undertake work in the Silghat-Neamati stretch and should not have incurred any loss in more than two years during the last five years ending March of the 2014-15 fiscal.