Components
Strengthening Inland Water Transport (IWT) Institutional Capacity
This component will support institutional capacity enhancements for the GoWB’s Department of Transport to assess, identify and develop the scope for sector planning, regulatory and institutional reforms, review of governance structures, business and financial planning, safety management and capacity enhancement for key agencies operating within the West Bengal IWT sector, including private sector operators through two subcomponents:
- Support for institutional capacity enhancement to regulate, manage, and maintain river transport system. This subcomponent will include:
- Preparation of an Institutional Strengthening and Business Plan (ISBP) for the West Bengal Transport Department, which will comprehensively map the institutional structure, business processes and human resource management and identify opportunities for improvement and consolidation. As part of preparing the ISBP, a Training Needs Assessment (TNA) of the Transport Department and its key subsidiaries will be conducted to support a full capacity building program to be implemented under the project
- Support for the implementation of the ISBP and the capacity building programs, including an increase in the percentage of women in technical and non-technical job roles in the IWT Department.
- Safety management: river navigation aids, night navigation technology on some routes, and emergency response system
This subcomponent will finance the provision of goods and technical assistance to support 24-hour services / night navigation on the most hazardous and/or trafficked routes and crossing points of the Hooghly River, beginning with pilots at two to three crucial locations, development of the system, provision of its operation protocols and training for staff, deployment of navigation aids to be scaled up based on the investment strategy for the sector, through:
- Technical Analysis and assessment of the existing River Information System (“RIS”) followed by implementing an update to the system
- purchase of equipment and software for the navigation system and emergency response system
- pilot of a mobile app which can be triggered to raise alarm for any incident either in the ferry terminal or the vessel
- carrying out of a gender-disaggregated user satisfaction survey to measure improved perceptions of safety during the first year of implementation, mid-term, and end-term.
Technical Assistance for Planning and Investment Prioritization
This Component will provide infrastructure investments to improve passenger urban mobility and freight movement in two phases addressing both short and long-term solutions to the critical needs of the current IWT system through three subcomponents:
- Improve infrastructure capacity of the existing network
This subcomponent will support the capacity of the existing system through building of, inter alia
- pontoons and gangways to enhance the capacity of existing jetties in twenty-six (26) selected sites
- twenty-two (22) new passenger ferries based on the design with improved safety standards and fuel efficiency
- electronic smart ticketing gates at forty (40) jetties, while additional jetties will be rehabilitated as the need is identified.
- Enhancing Passenger Movement
This subcomponent will support long term investments to be identified in the ISDP, including
- terminals, jetties, road access and ancillary infrastructure, in addition to other investments required to ensure navigable fairways
- improved design of inland water transport vessels and solutions to modernize the fleet
- system management including RIS integrated with the national RIS and the port information system.
In addition, the ISDP shall provide a phased approach to private sector solutions to vessel financing and create a pilot project demonstrating efficient solutions. The exact number of jetties and their locations will be determined based on a multi-criteria analysis of economic benefits, access, intermodal connectivity, and social and environmental impacts.
2. Improving Infrastructure Capacity for Freight Movement
This subcomponent will finance the provision of an alternative for truck movement to be identified in the ISDP, focusing on decongesting vehicular movement on land by facilitating access across the Hooghly River, through inter alia
- Ro-Ro jetties, terminals, and road access
- design and financing solutions for private participation in Ro-Ro vessels
- system management
- support for the creation of a private sector pilot project to increase the number of Ro-Ro vessels in operation.
Locations where connectivity across the river can be effectively utilized to enhance cargo movement have been identified based on preliminary assessment and demand. The exact number of jetties and their locations will be determined after analysis of economic benefits, access, intermodal connectivity, and social and environmental impacts through the ISDP. While there are no Ro-Ro vessels currently operating, market demand studies indicate the potential for a private sector solution.
Infrastructure investments to improve water transport
The component will support medium- and long-term spatial, mobility and logistics planning to improve the livelihood and mobility within the city of Kolkata and the linkages to the port, through
- Spatial Development Strategy and Logistics Master Planning
The subcomponent will support strengthening the planning capacity for sound investments as well as for forming an effective linkage between planning, fiscal policy and the budget process for the KMA through
- Preparation of a spatial development strategy (SDS) and additional technical studies focusing on preparing local plans for sub-projects identified by the SDS
- Preparation of a logistics master plan (LMP) and provision of additional technical support to a high-level council on logistics.
- Prioritizing investments in IWT and linkages to transport network
This subcomponent will include consultancy services to prioritize investments in IWT in the short and medium-term and provide a long-term vision for mobility within the KMA through the preparation of an Integrated Strategic Development Plan (ISDP) and a Comprehensive mobility Plan (CMP).
Support to Implementation
This Component will include technical assistance and advisory services to the PMU and the Project Steering Committee (“PSC”), including project management and coordination costs associated with project implementation, consultancy services for feasibility, conceptual, and detailed designs, safeguards instruments for sub-projects, preparation of follow-on operations, mobilization of expertise, exchange of international experience, and advisory services to support the PSC and the Logistics Council, once established, as well as capacity development and policy support on climate mitigation and adaptation through specific consultancies, knowledge events, and staff training.