• Union Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the Tizu-Zungki waterway project would be harnessed for economic development of Nagaland, to enable cargo and passenger transport. 

• He said this at a conference organised by Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), in Chumoukedima district of Nagaland.

• Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and Sonowal in the conference jointly announced development of Tizu-Zungki (National Waterways 101) as both IWAI and transport department of the government of Nagaland to work together to study for navigation feasibility.

• Tizu-Zungki is an important waterway starting from Kiphire district of Nagaland and ending in Chindwin.

• In Nagaland, the NW 101 flows from Longmatra (Nagaland) towards Avangkhu where the feasibility study of Inland Water Transport will be conducted by the IWAI. 

• This will examine from the perspective of fairway development, navigational aids, terminal with minimum infrastructure, skill development and vessel procurement.

Zungki is a tributary of Tizu

• Nagaland has four main rivers, namely, Doyang, Dhansiri, Dhiku and Tizu. 

• The first three flows towards west through Assam plains to join River Brahmaputra, while Tizu River system flows towards the east and southeast and pours into the Irrawaddy in Myanmar. 

• The Tizu River forms an important drainage system in the eastern part of Nagaland. It originates from the central part of Nagaland state and runs through a northeast direction, flows through Kiphire and Phek districts and confluences in the Chindwin River of Myanmar.

• Chindwin River further enters into Irrawaddy River — the largest river of Myanmar. River Irrawaddy further drains into Andaman Sea via Irrawaddy Delta after travelling through river ports like Mandalay

• The main tributaries of River Tizu are river Zungki, Lanye, and Likimro.

• The Zungki River, which is the tributary of Tizu, starts from the north-eastern part of Changdong forest in the south of Teku and flows in southern direction towards Noklak, Shamator and Kiphire and finally joins Tizu below Kiphire.

Additional Read:

Inland Waterways may chart new paths for growth in India

India is endowed with various Inland Water Transport (IWT) options that comprise rivers, canals, backwaters, creeks, and tidal inlets. India has over 5,000 km of navigable inland waterways under development. These not only form a competitive alternative mode of transportation with lower operating cost (30 per cent lower than the railways and 60 per cent lower than road) but also a sustainable mode in freight logistics and passenger transport. 

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