Govt plans to convert 101 rivers into waterways

Minister for Road Transport Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari on Monday said that he would introduce both the Waterways Bill seeking the conversion of 101 rivers into waterways as well as the Road Transport and Safety Bill in the upcoming Monsoon Session.“Both the Road Transport and Safety Bill and the Waterways Bill are the top most on our agenda. We plan to introduce both the Bills in this session of Parliament,” said Gadkari.

The new Road Transport and Safety Bill seeks to come down heavily on traffic offenders and proposes steep penalties of up to Rs3 lakh along with a minimum 7-year imprisonment for death of a child in certain circumstances, besides huge fines for driving violations.Gadkari said once the law is enacted, it would overhaul the sector bringing in transparency besides curbing malpractices.

Besides a heavy penalty for driving related violations, the Bill also proposes a fine of Rs5 lakh per vehicle and an imprisonment for faulty manufacturing design. 

The Bill is also aimed at bringing down fatalities in road accidents by two lakh in the first five years.“Converting existing rivers into waterways will propel economic growth as it is a cheaper mode to transport cargo and with this objective in mind, Government has set the target to convert 101 rivers into waterways,” said Gadkari.“This will not just bring down the costs and time in transport of cargo when compared to roads and trains but will also be environment friendly,” he said.