LADIS – Least Available Depth Information System | 16 Feb 2019

To ensure optimum use of National Waterways (NWs), the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has launched a new portal LADIS – Least Available Depth Information System.

LADIS will ensure that real-time data on least available depths is disseminated for ship/barge and cargo owners so that they can undertake transportation on NWs in a more planned way.
IWAI has designed LADIS to facilitate the day-to-day operations of inland vessels plying on NWs and to avoid any hindrance in service and operation.
It will enhance credibility and efficiency of information sharing to achieve seamless operations on NWs, besides pre-empting problems that may occur during movement of vessels.

Inland Waterways Authority of India

The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is a statutory body under Ministry of Shipping established in 1986 for development and regulation of inland waterways for shipping and navigation.
It is headquartered in Noida, Uttar Pradesh and its main function is to build necessary infrastructure in inland waterways, surveying economic feasibility of new projects and also carrying out administration and regulation.
As per the National Waterways Act, 2016, 111 waterways have been declared as NWs.

In 2018, the IWAI also launched a portal known as Forum of Cargo Owners and Logistics Operators (FOCAL) for cargo owners and logistic operators to access real time data on availability of vessels.
In 2018, IWAI signed a project agreement with the World Bank for Jal Marg Vikas Project on river Ganga which aims for capacity augmentation of navigation on NW-1 (River Ganga) from Varanasi to Haldia.
These initiatives are a part of objective to develop NWs as a key transport intervention and lower huge logistics costs, which currently account for 15% of the GDP and is about twice that of the U.S.’ logistics costs.