Total 106 new waterways have been declared as National Waterways (NWs) under the National Waterways Act, 2016, in addition to the five existing NWs notified earlier. Specific stretches of six rivers of Goa viz. Chapora (NW-25), Cumberjua Canal (NW-27), Mandovi (NW-68), Mapusa (NW-71), Sal (NW-88) and Zuari (NW-111) have been included in the declared NWs.
Detailed Project Reports have been prepared for the rivers Mandovi, Zuari and Cumberjua. For the remaining three NWs, two-stage DPR studies (Stage-I – Feasibility study) and (Stage-II-DPR) have been awarded. The requirement of land and civil structural interventions and the requirement of funds for the development of the six NWs in Goa would be known after the finalization of the DPRs.
For development of NWs in Goa, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed by Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) with Mormugao Port Trust (MPT). Expenditure to develop these waterways will be met from Government Budgetary Support (GBS), extra budgetary resources such as bonds, MPT and Government of Goa.