Inland Vessel Bill 2021 | PuuchoIAS


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Inland Vessel Bill 2021

Part of: GS Prelims and GS -III – Infrastructure 

In news

  • Recently, the Union Cabinet approved the Inland Vessels Bill, 2021. 
    • It will replace the Inland Vessels Act, 1917 after passing in Parliament.
  • The Bill will regulate safety, security and registration of inland vessels.

Features of the Bill:

  • Unified law for the entire country, instead of separate rules framed by the States.
  • Central database for recording the details of vessel, vessel registration, crew on an electronic portal.
  • All non-mechanically propelled vessels will also have to be enrolled at the district, taluk or panchayat or village level.
  • It enlarges the definition of ‘inland waters’, by including tidal water limit and national waterways 
  • It also deals with pollution control measures of Inland Vessels. 
  • It directs the Central Government to designate a list of chemicals, substances, etc. as pollutants.

Important value additions 

Inland Waterways

  • India has about 14,500 km of navigable waterways which comprise of rivers, canals, backwaters, creeks, etc.
  • As per the National Waterways Act 2016, 111 waterways have been declared as National Waterways (NWs).
  • NW-1: Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly River System (Prayagraj-Haldia) with length 1620 km is the longest National Waterway in India.

Pic courtesy: Ganga Today

Do you know? 

  • The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is implementing the Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) for capacity augmentation of navigation on the Haldia-Varanasi stretch of Ganga (part of NW-1) with the technical and financial assistance of the World Bank.

Pic courtesy: iasbaba 



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