Guwahati, March 4: An Assam House committee has recommended converting the inland waterway transport (IWT) terminal at Jogighopa in lower Assam into a cargo movement hub to facilitate trade with Bhutan and Bangladesh.

The standing committee report on transport, tabled in the budget session recently, said Jogighopa, a coal hub for decades, has the potential to be developed as a multi-modal transport hub.

"The Bhutan border at Gelephu is just 100km from Jogighopa. Considering the geographical location of the Jogighopa terminal along with highway connectivity to Bhutan, the IWT terminal has the potential of becoming a major hub for cargo movement through waterways. International trade with Bangladesh and facilitating bilateral trade between Bhutan and Bangladesh can be increased," the report said.

Jogighopa, a town situated on the bank of the Brahmaputra in Bongaigaon district, falls under National Waterways 2, an 891km stretch of the Brahmaputra between Dhubri and Sadiya. The town is also a trade hub for coal from Meghalaya.

"Being suitably located with road and railways, Jogighopa has the potential for development as a multi-modal transport hub. Other states of the Northeast, especially Meghalaya, can greatly benefit if Jogighopa is developed as modern cargo handling centre. The terminal can also suitably serve areas of north Bengal," the report said.

"Therefore, it is proposed to develop the IWT Jogighopa terminal, in collaboration with Inland Waterways Authority of India, with modern jetty and cargo handling facilities and container," it added.

At present, the IWT terminal at Pandu in Guwahati is the only multi-modal transport hub of NW2.

Assam has the largest network of navigable waterways (1,983km) in the country (14,544km), of which the Brahmaputra and the Barak are the most important water transport channels. The 121km stretch of the Barak was recently declared NW16.

Nine other rivers - the Aai, the Subansiri, the Gangadhar, the Beki, the Dehing, the Dikhow, the Puthimari, the Kapili and the Dhansiri - are being developed into national waterways.

The state inland waterways transport department is operating 98 ferry services on the Brahmaputra, the Barak and their tributaries.

Ferry services carry nearly 7.5 million passengers, more than 6.5 lakh motorised vehicles, nearly a million bicycles and carts and around 40,000 tonnes of goods and livestock annually.

The committee of 25 legislator, headed by BJP legislator Prashanta Phukan, said the construction of 15 new passenger vessels having all modern navigable appliances is likely to be completed by IWT in 2017-18. Construction and operation of water taxis is another major project proposed in this year's budget.