How India's first multi-modal terminal on Ganga can make Varanasi an economic hub
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated an inland waterways terminal and to major national highways at his parliamentary constituency, Varanasi, today. These will significantly enhance the existing multi-modal transport around the city, including the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport and the recently renamed Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Railway Junction.
Transportation has been the nub of Varanasi, a “teerth stan” (site of pilgrimage). Devotees have been performing Kashi Yatra on foot, circumambulating the city for moksha, crossing over from the endless cycle of life to mukti (eternal rest).
However, the time has come to convert the “transportation” metaphor into reality and envision Varanasi as an economic crossing for north central India by upgrading and adding to the the transport infrastructure already available in and around the city.
Since 2014, the city has been the focus of political attention that only a Prime Minister’s constituency can receive. This attention has infused a new energy into the neglected and dilapidated oldest living city in the world that serves as the traditional religious, spiritual, educational and business hub.
However, to achieve the vision of becoming a growth centre based on multi-modal transport, the focus of attention needs to encompass neighbouring towns and constituencies like Ghazipur.
In this article, we will take a look into what is available and what more could be done to achieve this vision.
Varanasi straddles the ancient Grand Trunk Road. For ages, pilgrims from far and wide walked to the city from all parts of India seeking the spiritual essence of life. Gautam Buddha walked from Bodh Gaya to Sarnath to give his first sermon.
The pilgrims provided an impetus to the local weaving industry known for its Banarasi sarees, establishing the city as a business hub.
The inauguration of the road infrastructure works across multiple national highways that bestride the city marks both continuity and change, easing travel for residents, pilgrims, tourists and businesspersons.
The inauguration of the inland water terminal by the Prime Minister today also marks the revival of the river shipping so vividly brought to life in the early chapters of Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies. In the 1800s, ships and boats along the Ganga were part of a multi-modal transport change that sent opium produced at Ghazipur to China. And it also transported that very precious commodity that made Mahatma Gandhi walk 240 miles to Dandi — salt.
With this multi-modal terminal across the river at Ramnagar, the National Waterways 1 is now open for business. The 1,300-km waterway will terminate at Haldia beyond Kolkata and can ply large vessels weighing up to 2,000 tonnes. This waterway will host another multi-modal terminal nearby — at Ghazipur.
The late 1800s saw Varanasi getting connected by rail. Established in 1862, the Varanasi Junction is the 14th busiest railway station of the country.
However, the railway glory of the region lies elsewhere. Established in 1863 as Mughal Sarai, the now-Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (DDU) Junction across the Ganga from Varanasi is the fourth busiest railway station in India with 125 passenger trains and umpteen freight trains passing through it.
It lies almost in the middle of 1,400 km of electrified double track of the eastern dedicated freight corridor, which is currently under construction.
Varanasi’s railway connection was further strengthened in 1961 when the Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) was established here. With an annual production capacity of 250, the DLW has since produced over 8,000 diesel engines. In recent years, there have been news reports of the government planning to connect the city with Delhi through the high-speed train network.
The Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport at Varanasi has been catering to pilgrims and tourists for decades. It was once a key stopover on the Delhi-Khajuraho-Varanasi-Kathmandu sector. Currently, it connects with most of India and to Nepal, Thailand, Sri Lanka and the UAE.
Varanasi’s air infrastructure, however, is not limited to just this airport. Apart from a small training airstrip in the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), the neighboring Ghazipur is home to three World War II era airstrips set by the British. However, only the one near Andhau is being used occasionally. The one near Shahbaz Quli (or Gouspur) can still be located on Google maps while the third near highway bridge on Gomti has more or less disappeared.
These airstrips can be put to effective use. A maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) facility can be established at one of the airstrips. This MRO facility can possibly cater to 1,000-plus small aircrafts and helicopters that fly over the Indian sub-continent.
The airstrip at Andhau, already surrounded by few educational institutions, can be transformed as an aviation education and research hub, including an IIT-BHU (or standalone) centre based on cutting-edge aeronautical research.
The third airstrip at Shahbaz Quli near the Ganga together with the airport at Varanasi can function as hubs for cargo operations, especially for perishables from the fertile Gangetic plains on which Varanasi is located and the processed produce from the agro-industry park at Khirkiyaon near the city.
These are but some ideas. The possible vision of a transportation-led economic resurgence of Varanasi may benefit from a feasibility study that delves into the future and imagines what it could be in a few decades as transportation and other technology crosses new frontiers.
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