Centre to provide Rs 2,000 cr for Godavari waterway
Hyderabad, May 5: Union Minister for Road Transport and Water Resourceas Nitin Gadkari on Saturday announced that the Central government will sanction Rs 2,000 crore for inland waterway on Godavari River.
He asked Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra to come forward to take 10 percent equity each in the special purpose vehicle to be formed by the ministry to execute the project.
Gadkari was speaking at a function to lay foundation stone for four infrastructure projects in Hyderabad.
He said Godavari waterway project will transform the economies of the three states. Stating that a feasibility study has already been completed, the minister said he will order a Detailed Project Report (DPR).
Gadkari was confident that the work on this project can start this year and asked the Telangana government to submit the proposal.
The length of the National Waterway 4 will be 1,184 km from Nasik, where Godavari starts to Bhadrachalam in Telangana to Rajahmundry. It proposed to be extended to Krishna River from Wazirabad to Galagali for another 628 km.
Stating that he has so far ordered infrastructure works worth Rs.10 lakh crore, the minister said there was no dearth of money and he was ready to take up the project by mobilising funds including loans in foreign exchange at two percent interest.
Gadkari said that inland waterways are his dream project, which can double the exports by reducing the logistics cost by 50 percent. He believes this will boost industry and provide employment.
He said work on Buckingham canal and Swarna River waterway had already started. Ganga River will have four multi-modal hubs and this could facilitate transportation of goods from Varanasi to Southeast Asia, Bangladesh and Myanmar. He believes this can transform the economy of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Earlier, Telangana's Industry and Municipal Administration Minister K.T. Rama Rao said since Telangana is landlocked state, it needs help in developing inland waterways. He said the Godavari waterway could facilitate movement of a ship from Bay of Bengal to Maharashtra via Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The minister said barrages being built under Kaleswaram project will have the provision to take ships to Godavari.
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App biker harasses woman doctor for cancelling ride, arrested
Kolkata, Nov 2: A woman doctor of a private hospital in Kolkata lodged a police complaint on Saturday accusing an app biker of sending her pornographic videos after she cancelled the booking since he was getting too late, an officer said.
The accused was arrested within a few hours of the victim filing the complaint.
The accused was slapped with different sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for sexual harassment, outraging a woman's modesty and criminal intimidation, he said.
The doctor, associated with a private medical facility in the southern part of the city's Jadavpur area, booked the app bike at 8 pm from the hospital.
Initial probe revealed that the accused app-biker had called the doctor at least 17 times and sent her sexually explicit content on WhatsApp after she cancelled her booking, the officer said.
The rider also allegedly threatened her with dire consequences.
"The doctor first filed an e-complaint with the Police Commissioner and the Joint CP Crime. She also sent an email to the cyber cell before lodging a complaint with the Purba Jadavpur Police Station," the officer said.
