By IANS,
Islamabad : Pakistan, where over 95 percent of freight is carried by road, now plans to use more than 2,500 km of its rivers and canals to transport goods.
Water and Power Minister Syed Naveed Qamar Monday finalised a pilot project and also decided to introduce a bill in parliament to set up the Inland Water Transport Authority (IWTA), Dawn reported.
The pilot project’s first phase envisages transporting urea, cement, salt and coal to places like Attock and Nowshera through the Indus, instead of by roads.
The Nowshera-Kalabagh region has been earmarked for it as the 200 km distance has enough water and no barrages or other obstructions on the way.
Studies carried out by the navy say that transporting goods through river is more than eight times cheaper than by road.
It notes that about 96 percent of the country’s freight moved by road and less than four percent by rail.
The navy has said that about 30,000 km length of channels in Pakistan are navigable.