Inland Water Authority of India formed on 27th October, 1986. It is a Statutory Body under Ministry of Shipping. Headquarters is in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Current chairman- Amita Prasad. It was constituted under IWAI Act 1985 by Parliament of India. 1st NW was made with the help of World Bank.
- National Waterway 1 -> Prayagraj to Haldia
-> Rivers – Ganga, Bhagirathi and Hoogly
-> Decleared – 1986
-> Length – 1620kms
-> Parallel NH-19
-> States – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal
2. National Waterway 2 -> Saliya to Dhubri
-> River – Bramhaputra
-> Declared – 1988
-> Length – 891km
-> Parallel NH-27
-> State – Assam
3. National Waterway 3 -> Kollam to Kottapuram
-> Rivers are not available so made with the help of lakes like Vembenand Lake.
-> Canals- West Coast Canal, Champakara Canal, Udyogmandal Canal
-> Declared – 1993
-> Length – 205km
-> Parallel NH-66
-> State – Kerala
4. National Waterway 4 -> Kakinada(Andhra P.) to Kalapetta(Puducherry)
-> Rivers – Godavari, Krishna
-> Canals – Eluru Canal, Commamuru Canal, Kakinada Canal, Bukingham Canal
-> Declared – 2008
-> Length – 1078km
-> Parallel NH-16
-> State – Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, UT of Puducherry
5. National Waterway 5 -> Talcher to Dhamra and Goenka to Charbatia
-> Rivers – Bramhani, Matai, Mahanadi
-> Canal – East Coast Canal(Dhamra to Haldia)
-> Declared – 2008
-> Length – 623km
-> Parallel NH-16
-> State – Odisha, West Bengal
*6. National Waterway 6 ->Proposed
-> Lakhipur to Bhanga
-> River – Barak
-> Length – 121km
-> Parallel NH-27
-> State – Assam
Few Important facts : NH–44 longest National Highway stretching from Srinagar to Kanyakumari and it’s length is 3745kms. NH–27 is 2nd longest stretching from Porbandar to Silchar and it’s length is 3507kms. NW1 and NW5 are the only 2 inland waterways which are connected to each other.
-NB