SSC
In 1988, the Sadiya-Dhubri stretch of the Brahmaputra river was declared as:
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Answer: Option D — National Waterway 2
Detailed Solution
The 891 km long stretch of the Brahmaputra from Sadiya to Dhubri in Assam was declared National Waterway 2 (NW-2) in 1988.
About NW-2:
- It runs through Assam, from Sadiya in the east, near the Arunachal Pradesh border, to Dhubri near the Bangladesh border in the west.
- Important river ports and terminals include Pandu (Guwahati), Jogighopa, Tezpur, Neamati, Dibrugarh and Dhubri.
- It is connected to Kolkata and Haldia through Bangladesh under the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route, which uses rivers in Bangladesh.
- Cargo carried includes coal, fertilisers, food grains, cement, tea and petroleum products.
- Passenger ferries and river cruises also operate on it.
India's first national waterways:
NW-1: The Ganga river system up to Haldia, about 1,620 km long; declared in 1986. It is the longest national waterway.
NW-2: The Brahmaputra from Sadiya to Dhubri, about 891 km; declared in 1988.
NW-3: The West Coast Canal in Kerala, with the Champakara and Udyogmandal canals, about 205 km; declared in 1993.
NW-4: Parts of the Godavari and Krishna rivers and canals in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry; declared in 2008.
National Waterways Act, 2016:
This Act declared 106 new national waterways, taking the total number to 111.
Inland Waterways Authority of India:
The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), set up in 1986 with its headquarters in Noida (Uttar Pradesh), develops and manages national waterways.
Advantages of inland water transport:
- It is cheaper and more fuel-efficient than road or rail transport for bulk cargo.
- It causes less pollution.
- It reduces congestion on roads and railways.
- Good to know
- NW-1 is on the Ganga, NW-3 is in Kerala and NW-4 is on the Godavari-Krishna system.
Quick tip
Remember: NW-1 = Ganga (up to Haldia, longest); NW-2 = Brahmaputra (Sadiya-Dhubri, 1988); NW-3 = West Coast Canal (Kerala).
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Industries & Transport in India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Industries & Transport in India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers India's major industries (iron and steel, textiles, cement, sugar, automobiles and information technology) and their locations, along with the transport network: railways, roads and national highways, ports, airports and waterways. Common questions ask where a steel plant is located and which country helped build it (Bhilai with the Soviet Union, Rourkela with Germany and Durgapur with Britain), which city is called the 'Manchester of India', and facts about major ports, railway zones and national highways. Practise the industries and transport questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.