Guwahati: Noted agricultural scientist Dr Veena Vidyadharan recently emphasised the significance of riverine transport and waterways, citing recent bilateral cooperation between Bangladesh and India in the Brahmaputra and Meghna River basins. She referred to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on using coastal protocol routes for riverine transit and trade as a notable example.
Dr Vidyadharan delivered the first Arun Roy Memorial Lecture on the topic ‘Inland Water Transport: Challenges and Opportunities in the Context of the Brahmaputra’ at a recent event. She extensively discussed National Waterway 2 (the Brahmaputra) and NW-16 (the Barak), informing the audience about the current status of trade and commerce between the two countries via rivers. She also highlighted recent challenges in sustaining these government initiatives.
In her lecture, Dr Vidyadharan made several key recommendations for improving the Inland Water Transport (IWT) sector in Assam and enhancing IWT-centric trade and livelihoods.
The lecture programme, held on 7 July, was jointly organised by Aaranyak, the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT Guwahati, and the Northeast India Water Forum (NIWaF) at the Conference Hall, Institution of Engineers, Assam State Centre.
Dr Veena Vidyadharan is a Fellow at the CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment (CUTS CITEE), an international think tank based in Jaipur, India. With about 20 years of experience in research and project management in agriculture, climate change, connectivity, transboundary water governance, regional integration, livelihoods, and food security, she has consistently worked on inland navigation and transboundary riverine trade.
Dr Vidyadharan collaborated on many studies with the late Arun Roy, a leading expert on river engineering and Inland Waterways Transport Operations in India. Roy, who passed away in 2021, had extensive knowledge of the development of water transport and commerce in the India-Bangladesh region, especially in Assam. He was also an expert in ship-making and served in the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) in various key roles, including Chief Engineer and Director for the northeastern region.
The programme began with a welcome address by Prof Anamika Barua from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Guwahati. Prof Barua provided the background of the collaborative initiative commemorating Arun Roy’s contributions to inland water transport and trade in Northeast India.
Dr Partha J Das, Head of the Water, Climate, and Hazard Division at Aaranyak, spoke about Arun Roy’s remarkable achievements in river engineering and riverine transport and trade. This was followed by a floral tribute to Roy and the introduction of Dr Veena Vidyadharan as the invited speaker.
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After the commemoration session, Dr Vidyadharan and Prof Barua were felicitated, followed by self-introductions from over 30 participants. An open house discussion followed the lecture, moderated by Er Anup Kumar Mitra, President of NIWaF, where participants discussed various issues related to the IWT sector, including navigability of rivers, flooding, erosion, transboundary nature of rivers, climate change, river geomorphology, and government policies.
The programme concluded with a vote of thanks by Er P.P. Changkakati, Executive President of NIWaF. Dr Partha J Das, on behalf of the organisers, announced their intention to continue the Arun Roy Memorial Lecture on ‘Riverine Navigation, Transport and Trade’ in Northeast India to honour Arun Roy’s contributions and to promote sustainable navigation in Assam’s rivers, aiming for conservation of river ecosystems, socioeconomic development, tourism expansion, and livelihood generation through improved IWT infrastructure and services.
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