FROST ODISHA

1. Introduction: - The East Coast Canal (ECC) System providing the connectivity between Kolkata Port and Cuttack along with other trade canters in the coastal districts of Odisha through Inland Water Transport during the British era was the lifeline of Odisha being the first mode of surface transport. The canal system was developed during nineteenth century primarily for inland navigation connecting the River Hooghly at Goenkhali in West Bengal  72 km from Kolkata Port with the river Matai at Charbatia, Odisha. The waterways system from Charbatia was extended up to False Point port (harbour) on the estuary of the river Mahanadi near Paradeep port through the delta rivers from the major river systems like Brahmani, Baitarani, Mahanadi and the creeks. The connectivity of ECC from the then riverine & sea port facilities at Balasore, Chandbali, Dhamra, Mangoljodi, False Point harbour to Cuttack and the important trade centers through delta and coastal irrigation canal systems facil...

1. Introduction: - The Kaladan Multimodal Transit & Transport (KMMT&T) through Myanmar is a key infrastructure project for providing an alternate access to India's North Eastern region other than the Siliguri chicken neck corridor via road and rail, as well as existing the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol routes on Bangladesh's inland waterways. This is also referred to as one of India's first cross-border connectivity projects, particularly in the Eastern Southern Asian BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal) corridor, which serves as a link between the South Asian and Southeast Asian regions. The first cross-border scheme, however, has yet to be completed in all respects in order to become operational. The KMMT&T Project, named after the Kaladan River, which flows from Myanmar's Chin state through India's North Eastern state of Mizoram before merging into the Bay of Bengal, aims to connect Mizoram and Myanmar through a multimodal transport corridor, allowi...

IMPORTANCE OF PROTOCOL ON INLAND WATER TRADE & TRANSIT (PIWT&T) BETWEEN INDIA & BANGLADESH FOR NORTH-EAST REGION  PART-II In continuance to the article posted on the blog on 3rd April 2021, an attempt is made in Part-II of the article explaining further on the strategical importance of the existing Protocol between India & Bangladesh for NE States of India and its neighbouring countries, the various MOUs & Agreements, issues & challenges, cargo potentials and development strategies & policies. 1. Further Strategical Importance of PIWT&T 1.1 Act East Policy & other economic initiative India’s “Look East Policy” started in the year 2004 and subsequently renamed as” Act East Policy” (during 2014) paved the way for looking NER as a new way of development and economic integration with the rest of Asia mainly North East and South East Asia, in particular. Thus, it has increased the focus of the Government of India in developing the North-Eastern Region...

  1. Introduction: Prior to the partition of India in 1947, the trade and commerce of the NER (North-Eastern Region) with the rest of India used to pass through the territories of East Bengal, what is now Bangladesh. After the independence, rail and river transit across the erstwhile East Pakistan continued till 1965 with an agreement. But, consequence of the Indo-Pak war & subsequent war for liberation of Bangladesh, inland navigation to & through the country was suspended. On signing of the Protocol on Inland Water Transit & Trade (PIWT & T) on 1st November 1972 in pursuance of Article VIII of the Trade Agreement between Government of India and Bangladesh, the Inland navigation for Exim cargo between the countries and transit cargo from mainland to NER & vice versa, using the waterways of Bangladesh could be revived.   2. Protocol Routes and Ports of call: -Initially four prominent routes (named as Indo-Bangladesh Protocol routes) on the major river syste...