{"id":15728,"date":"2021-06-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/current_affairs\/uncategorized\/18-06-2021\/inland-vessels-bill-2021-2\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T16:47:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T11:17:04","slug":"inland-vessels-bill-2021-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/18-06-2021\/inland-vessels-bill-2021-2","title":{"rendered":"Inland Vessels Bill, 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>In News<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Recently, the Union Cabinet approved the<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong> Inland Vessels Bill, 2021<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">, which will replace the Inland Vessels Act, 1917.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>Major Highlights of the Bill\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">A Total <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>4,000 km<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> of inland waterways have been operationalised.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The key feature of the Bill is a <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>unified law for the entire country<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">, instead of <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>separate rules framed by the States.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The certificate of registration granted under the proposed law will be deemed to be valid in all States and Union Territories, and there will be no <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>need to seek separate permissions from the States<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The Bill provides for a <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>central database for recording the detail<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">s of vessel, vessel registration, crew on an electronic portal.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">It requires all <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>mechanically propelled vessels to be mandatorily registered.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">All non-mechanically propelled vessels will also <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>have to be enrolled at district, taluk or panchayat or village level.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The Bill will <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>regulate safety, security and registration of inland vessels.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/KbUynNJ-nPtKHpr_dgMXsl2TVhz4vd5R_YqrWLRs-QXrAIz3SLUc391gNeJXiov52sN6yijSBKFCamtKI88at_j7J0_O7prrQLSJRbsPryCoWMH25sqR_Z10spj5u3iOJpQkyIUz\" style=\"height:361px; width:624px\" \/><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/economictimes.indiatimes.com\/industry\/transportation\/shipping-\/-transport\/union-cabinet-approves-inland-vessel-bill-to-be-presented-in-parliament\/articleshow\/83574758.cms?from=mdr\" style=\"text-decoration:none\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#1155cc\"><u>\u00a0Image Courtesy: ET<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>Aims and Objectives<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">To promote <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>economic and safe transportation<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> as well as trade through inland <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>waterways and bring uniformity in the application of the law.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">To provide <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>the safety of navigation<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">, <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>protection<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> of life and cargo, and prevention of pollution that may be caused by the use or navigation of inland vessels.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<div>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"border-collapse:collapse; border:none; table-layout:fixed; width:624px\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"background-color:#fff2cc; border-bottom:1px solid #000000; border-left:1px solid #000000; border-right:1px solid #000000; border-top:1px solid #000000; vertical-align:top\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>Inland Water Transport (IWT) in India<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">India has an<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong> extensive network of inland waterways<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> in the form of rivers, canals, backwaters and creeks.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">It has about <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>14,500 km of navigable waterways<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> which comprise rivers, canals, backwaters, creeks, etc.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Its operations are currently restricted to a few stretches in the <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly rivers, the Brahmaputra, the Barak river, the rivers in Goa, the backwaters in Kerala, i<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">nland waters in Mumbai and the deltaic regions of the Godavari &#8211; Krishna rivers.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:square\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">\u00a0Freight transportation by waterways is highly <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>underutilized in the country<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> as compared to<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong> developed countries.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:square\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">\u00a0India&#8217;s hinterland connectivity is mainly based on <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>road and rail with domestic<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> waterways\u2014 both coastal shipping and inland waterways\u2014playing a limited role.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>The National Waterways Act, 2016 <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">has declared 111 inland waterways as \u2018National Waterways (NWs) in the country to promote shipping and navigation on them. The total length of NWs is 20,275 km spread across 24 states in the country.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI),<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> is an autonomous organization constituted on 27th October 1986 under the <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Inland Waterways Authority of India Act, 1985.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">\u00a0IWAI is primarily responsible for the<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong> development, maintenance and regulation of those waterways<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> which have been declared as<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong> NWs under the National Waterways Act, 2016.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The head office of IWAI is at Noida, UP. The policy guidelines and directions issued by IWT Wing are implemented by IWAI.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Significance<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Waterways are <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>found to be cost-effective as well as an environmentally friendly<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> means of transporting freight.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">\u00a0In India, Inland Water Transport (IWT) has the potential to supplement the <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>over-burdened<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> railways and congested roadways.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">\u00a0In addition to cargo movement, the IWT sector also provides a <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>convenient function<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> in related activities such as carriage of vehicles {on Roll-on-Roll-off (Ro-Ro) mode of cross ferry} and <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>tourism.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/cabinet-nod-for-inland-vessels-bill\/article34832506.ece\" style=\"text-decoration:none\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#1155cc\"><u>Source : TH<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In News Recently, the Union Cabinet approved the Inland Vessels Bill, 2021, which will replace the Inland Vessels Act, 1917. \u00a0 Major Highlights of the Bill\u00a0 A Total 4,000 km of inland waterways have been operationalised.\u00a0 The key feature of the Bill is a unified law for the entire country, instead of separate rules framed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[31,30],"class_list":["post-15728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs","tag-government-policies-interventions","tag-gs-2"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2023\/07\/3882530current-affairs.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15728"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49714,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15728\/revisions\/49714"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}