12.3pc of rural people use inland water transport

The World Bank report 'Revival of Inland Water Transport in Bangladesh: Options and Strategies' provided a comprehensive overview of the IWT sector in Bangladesh and identified the sector's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks, says a press release.
About 12.3 percent of the rural population in Bangladesh use inland water transportation as the only mode of communication, read the report.
Recognising the benefits from river transports in terms of economic growth and poverty reduction, the government highlighted the role of Inland Water Transport (IWT) in providing better access to services and cheaper modes of transport in the National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction.
The government is seeking World Bank assistance for a proposed Inland Water Transport project aiming to increase and sustain connectivity to economic activities using Inland Water Transport.
The report established the elements of a new strategy to bolster the sector's contribution to growth and poverty reduction.
The proposed project would include financing adequate long-term dredging of the major waterways, following a comprehensive review of dredging issues and adoption by the government of a “Dredging Strategy”, to promote sustainable dredging and inland water navigability in Bangladesh.
The major six components of the proposed project are dredging of major routes, procurement of dredgers and hydrographic survey vessels for Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA); development and modernisation of river ports; procurement and installation of hi-tech navigation system at ferry routes and on ferry vessels of BIWTC; conversion of BIWTC ferries to CNG; improvement of river safety, including modernisation of existing lighthouses and installation of new lighthouses for better navigability; and improvement of river transport services and infrastructure for population which has water transport as only mode of transport, focusing on islands and small rivers in the coastal areas and lakes and wetlands in the North East, which can communicate only by water transport with the rest of the country.