Varanasi: The hard riverbed along a stretch of the Ganga in Ghazipur will no longer hinder the movement of cargo vessels and large cruise ships, even during peak summer when water levels drop sharply, once the ongoing dredging project is completed.After reviewing the progress of the dredging work, divisional commissioner S Rajalingam said the first year of the three-year project has been completed and the remaining work is expected to be finished over the next two years. He said water levels in the river currently fall to nearly one metre during the peak summer months, making navigation difficult. The project aims to maintain a navigable depth of 3.5 metres and a channel width of 45 metres throughout the year, ensuring uninterrupted movement of cargo vessels even before the monsoon raises the river level.Rajalingam said two dredging machines are currently operational and a third machine has recently been deployed to accelerate the work. Besides facilitating cargo transport, the project is also expected to boost tourism and benefit the river environment.Earlier on Monday, Rajalingam conducted a surprise inspection of the dredging work underway in the Ganga in Saidpur area in Ghazipur. During inspection of the project progressing under the supervision of Inland Waterways Authority of India, he gave necessary directions to the officials concerned.As per the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to encourage water transport in river Ganga, IWAI had completed the works of developing Haldia-Varanasi NW-I. But, the hard strata in river Ganga in Ghazipur emerged as a challenge for keeping this NW-I operationalise round the year. To end this problem a 3-year project was launched. On completion of one year of launch Rajalingam visited to take stock of progress in the work. He started inspection from Kolhua Ghat to Phulwari via Saidpur and sought information from officials on the technical aspects and the pace of the work.IWAI Varanasi deputy director Sanjeev Kumar said dredging is being carried out to ensure smooth navigation between Ghazipur and Ballia. He said the hard riverbed section is expected to be completed by the end of the second year with the deployment of the third dredging machine, while work on the remaining comparatively easier stretches will be completed during the third year.
