(THE GIST OF PIB) Ichamati River

(October-2023)

Recently, the Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways inaugurated the dredging work at National Waterways 44, Ichamati River in West Bengal.

It is actually a trans-boundary river that flows through India and Bangladesh.
It acts as a boundary between the two nations.
It is now in three parts
The longer part flows from the Mathabhanga River, a distributary of the Padma, and after flowing for 208 km joins the Kalindi River near Hasnabad in North 24 Parganas and Debhata in Satkhira District.
Ichhamati River and its tributaries form a large oxbow lake complexin North 24-Paraganas district near Bangaon.

To promote Inland Water Transport (IWT) in India, 111 waterways (including 5 existing and 106 new) have been declared as National Waterways (NWs) under the National Waterways Act, 2016.
The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) primarily undertakes projects for development and maintenance of IWT infrastructure on national waterways through grant received from Ministry of Shipping.
The head office of the authority is at Noida.