 the national waterway (lakhipur-bhanga  stretch of the barak river) bill, 2013 a billto provide for the declaration of the lakhipur-bhanga stretch of the barak river to be anational waterway and also to provide for the regulation and development of the said stretch of that river for the purposes of shipping and navigation on the said waterway and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-fourth year of the republic of india as follows:—short title and commencement1 (1) this act may be called the national waterway (lakhipur-bhanga stretch of the barak river) act, 2013(2) it shall come into force on such date as the central  government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint52  the lakhipur-bhanga stretch of the barak river, the limits of which are specified inthe schedule, is hereby declared to be a national waterway3  it is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that the union should take under its control the regulation and development of lakhipur-bhanga stretch of the barak river for the purposes of shipping and navigation on the national waterway to the extent provided in the inland waterways authority of india act, 1985declaration of lakhipur- bhanga stretch of barak river to be national waterwaydeclaration as to expediency of control by the union of lakhipur- bhanga stretch of barak river for certain purposes the  schedule (see section 2) limits of the national waterway (lakhipur-bhanga stretch of the barak river)the eastern limit of the waterway shall be a line drawn across the barak river in the state of assam at lakhipur ferry ghat (at latitude 24° 47' 26" north and longitude 93° 00' 14" east) and the western limit shall be a line drawn across the barak river at a distance of two hundred meters east of its bifurcation point at bhanga (at latidue 24° 52' 33" north and longitude 92° 29' 48" east) statement  of  objects  and  reasonsthe inland waterways authority of india act, 1985 (82 of 1985) constituted the inland waterways authority of  india for the regulation and development of inland waterways for the purposes of shipping and navigation the central government has already declared a number of stretches of various rivers or canals as national waterways2 allahabad-haldia stretch of the ganga-bhagirathi-hooghly river, sadiya-dhubri stretch of the brahmaputra river, kollam-kottapuram stretch of west coast canal and champakaran and udyogmandal canals, kakinada-puducherry stretch of canals and the kaluvelly tank, bhadrachalam-rajahmundry stretch of river godavari and wazirabad- vijayawada stretch of river krishna and talcher-dharmra stretch of rivers, geonkhali- charbatia stretch of east coast canal, charbatia-dhamra stretch of  matai  river and mahanadi delta rivers have already been declared as national waterways and the inland waterways authority of india has taken up the development, maintenance and management of these national waterways3 it is now proposed to declare the lakhipur-bhanga stretch of barak river in assam as a national waterway infrastructure facilities currently available on this waterway are not adequate for safe, convenient and sustained shipping and nagivation by large mechanised crafts therefore, the waterway is required to be developed by providing adequate infrastructure for safe, convenient and sustained shipping operations the regulation and development of the proposed national waterway under the control of the union for the purposes of shipping and navigation is in the public interest and declaration to that effect has also been made in this bill4 the bill seeks to achieve the above objectsnew delhi;g  k vasanthe 22nd  february, 2013 financial memorandumit is estimated that inland water transport traffic to the tune of 1245 lakh tonnes is likely to be carried on the proposed national waterway after its full development by the year 2018-19 this traffic is expected to be handled at  four  terminals, namely lakhipur, karimganj, silchar and badarpur the work will include development of the river along with provisions of infrastructure facilities for the purpose of shipping and navigation, channel marking, construction of terminals, transit sheds, installation of handling equipment, etc it is estimated that the expenditure in respect of the said development will be of the order of rupees one twenty-three crore and thirty lakh at 2012 prices this expenditure will be of a non-recurring nature2 it is also estimated that an expenditure of recurring nature of the order of rupees three crores and sixteen lakh annually will  be incurred for maintenance dredging, maintenance of navigation aids, terminals etc3 the provisions of the bill do not involve any other expenditure of a recurring or non-recurring nature———— a billto provide for the declaration of the lakhipur-bhanga stretch of the barak river to be anational waterway and also to provide for the regulation and development of the said stretch of that river for the purposes of shipping and navigation on the said waterway and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(shri g k vasan, minister of shipping )gmgipmrnd—5946rs(s4)—20-03-2013