The Water Transport Poem by Asit Kumar Sanyal

The water transport system
Played an important role in India
During early years
It started declining from that moment
When construction of railway began
And building of roads started
Later on barrages blocked the flow
And irrigation canals reduced depth
One by one many waterways
Became unsuitable for navigation.

Water transport is the most easy
And cheap mode of transport
It's popular in common people too
Its development does not require
Billion dollar budget
Like railways and roadways
It's the only inland transport system
That remains operational
During heavy rain and flood
When rail and road transport sleep
.
In other countries,
Govt. developes waterways
Beside other modes of transport
Sydney maintains a network of ferries
To the north and south shore communities
Hong Kong's star ferry still operating
Even though an underground tunnel
Connects Hong Kong Island with Kowloon
China improved ferry services
To Macau in speed and comfort
Piraeus (Greece) is known for
Its quality ferry services
Which discourages road and rail journey
The English Channel still have ferry services
Even people can travel through
The channel tunnel.

India is the land of many long
And perennial rivers
But due to lack of govt. interest
Water transport remained neglected from years
The country has total 14,500 km
Navigable waterways
But only 2000 km of major rivers
Is navigable by mechanized crafts.

Among all the national waterways
the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hoogly
Is the most important.
Ganga is the longest river of India
Fed by monsoon rains during rainy season
And melting snow in dry summer days
On its 2510 km length from snow to sea
It passes through 4 states,8 major cities
and their industrial hinterlands
including power plants, FCIs,
Cement, fertilizer and edible oil companies.

Recently from Haldia to Allahabad
1620 km waterway made navigable
With assistance of
World Bank's 50 million dollar
And regular steamer service started
Though it will take another five years
To complete the project.
Can you imagine a journey
by mechanised craft
from Allahabad to Haldia
via Varanasi, Patna, Murshidabad,
Kolkata and Diamond Harbour?