Social Impact & Other Benefits of Introducing Green Sustainable ShallowWater Boats and Propulsion Systems in India
Ravi Deka, AKVOTRANSIRO TECH PVT LTD
Background: If one has to define the state of Indian waterways today in one sentence it would be: “A 14,500
km intermittently blocked by dams and barrages artery of waterways comprising shallow, polluted rivers and
canals largely unnavigable by even small and medium-sized powered boats, with negligible port
infrastructure, a few dozen rusting government ferries and thousands of leaky wooden country boats used
only by people who have no other options.”
From the first settlements of pre-history till today, thousands of towns and villages the world over are located
on riverbanks. Rivers were used as the first transport routes before roads came into existence and even now
they often serve as the only connection to some of the remotest inhabited areas of the world.
India has declared 111 rivers and canals as National Waterways, but in reality out of the total 14,500 km close
to 50% are officially deemed unnavigable due to lack of draft. Both waterways and water transport had been
progressively neglected post independence and today most of our heavily silted, rampantly dammed and
diverted rivers have been turned into shallow, polluted streams in winters and the cause of rampant floods in
summer. Most government ferries are on average 30-40 years old and the rivers are dominated by primitive
wooden Motorised Country Boats built by village boat builders.
Records indicate that over 30,000+ such motorized riverboats are plying in the states of Assam, Bengal, Bihar
and Odhisa, and thousands of people use them daily to get to work, schools, and markets and to return home.
Only in Assam, a 3,600 sq., kilometre riparian area consisting of river islands with a population of almost 2.5
million is dependent on boats as the sole means of transport.
Challenges: The two major and largely unsolvable challenges of restoring water transport in India is the lack
of draft for navigation and the innumerable dams and barrages constructed without vessel locks which cut-off
various river into sealed segments. All talks of dredging them only serve as sound bites for bureaucrats and
politicians, as its prohibitively expensive as well as impractical for long stretches, especially as it doesn't
increase the quantum of water in the rivers. A dredging exercise in the Brahmaputra has shown how the
deepened channels got filled by silt in less than a year in the first flood. Likewise, except for the Ganges and
the Brahmaputra, dams have insured that river navigation remains restricted to cross-river traffic and short
upstream or downstream routes. Another major, but solvable problem is the abject lack of modern small boat
propulsion systems in the country. The imported Outboard Motors(OBMs) are too expensive to buy, run and
maintain for the average boat owner, especially as they are all petrol fuelled and so the preferred method of
propulsion are various crude Agro-Diesel units and old automotive engine contraptions. Besides, neither
OBMs nor the Diesel powered boats can run in shallow or muddy waters as their propellers can get stuck and
damaged or engines breakdown due to the cooling-water passages getting clogged with mud. Thus, almost
half our water bodies are non- navigable except by light flat-bottomed row boats. This includes most of the
smaller rivers during winter, all the swampy water bodies in national parks and forests, and even sections of
the sensitive international border like the Kutch salt marshes in Gujarat or the Sunderban in Bengal.
The Solution: The easiest way of reviving the Indian waterways is by adopting a bottom-up approach i.e., to
improve what already exists and plies on the rivers. Start by first improving the safety standards of the
existing fleet of country boats, then gradually phasing them out with safer, more efficient, sustainably built
yet affordable 10-20 PAX vessels. And the most important of aspect of all: Is to ensure that the new boats
have Shallow-Water-Plying capability with propulsion systems to match, as it is the most critical factor
applicable to almost every river and water body of the country.
Hence, the most important part of this puzzle would be the purpose-built shallow-water propulsion systems,
which are currently not available in India but used all around from the US to Russia and even in Thailand and
SE Asia. Such engines are mounted on a tiltable frame and use special surface-piercing Twin-Blade propellers
which remain only partial submerged and can be further raised or lifted out in extremely shallow waters thus
giving boats almost an SUV-like performance in shallow water, muddy swamps and marches.
Rural & Suburban Connectivity: Throughout the early and mid 20th century, people had the mistaken
notion that building bridges made river ferries redundant, till overburdened roads and traffic gridlocks bought
them back everywhere from London to New York, San Francisco to Manila. In India government ferries
For more information Contact: Ravi Deka, AKVOTRANSIRO TECH PVT LTD.
+91-8130529772(whatsapp/viber),
Email: akvotransiro@protonmail.com, Web: www.akvotransiro.co.in
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continued limping in various cities like Guwahati, Kolkata, Panaji etc., while rural areas were largely ignored
and left to the country boats with virtually zero regulations and supervision. However, it is this 2nd sector that
transports the bulk of river passenger and cargo, and constitutes the backbone of water transport in India and
which urgently needs to be modernized in order to become a viable alternative to roadways.
Rural Economy: Unknown to most, rivers in India are thriving with commerce as boats bringing vegetables
to urban areas, equally take back various commodities to their local markets and rural households. This is the
unregulated sector that transports everything from agro-produce and livestock to motorcycles, fridges and
LCD TVs. The introduction of newer more efficient boats, especially those capable of travelling in shallower
depths would tilt passenger and goods traffic even more towards water transportation vis-à-vis, a longer
circuitous overland trip down bumpy rural roads.
Rural Medical Services: One of the most overlooked potentials of river transport is for dispensing medical
help and services. There are thousands of villages across the country located on riverbanks, some navigable,
others seasonally or only with country row boats. With the advent of shallow water boats and propulsion
systems, many of these rivers could become conduits for delivering medical assistance and supplies or even
for basic water ambulances. As considering the state of most rural roads, they would be both faster and more
comfortable for all concerned from the medical personnel to the patients.
Law Enforcement & Security: The lack of shallow water capable and economic boat propulsion systems has
also left most riparian and forest areas of the country, as well as some internal border section with zero or
very little law-enforcement as the police, forest and the BSF lack the means of patrolling shallow water and
marshy areas. In the rare cases when they do, the high fuel cost running a patrol OBM, the high failure rates
in muddy waters or just because the boat cannot pass through the shallow rivers and channels restricts their
usage to minimum.
Flood Relief:Every year during flood relief operations, the NDRF and the State Disaster Relief agencies use
both inflatables and Fibreglass boats, but have to largely rely upon oar power because the undulating ground
beneath the water doesn’t allow OBMs to function safely, which in turn drastically slows down their work.
The villagers too, just get on their traditional row boats and rafts to get to higher ground but at the cost of
leaving most of their possessions behind. Shallow water boats and propulsion systems may not prevent annual
floods, but they would help expedite the rescue and relief operations as well as carry more people, animals
and essential goods to safety.
Environment: As of now, there are no rules governing the emission standards for boat and marine engines in
India. However, the usage of new-generation Diesel engines would ensure much lower fuel consumption and
cleaner emissions then even the CARB-3 Star (Ultra Low-Emissions) of most modern 4stroke OBMs.
Likewise, electric models would be completely emission free with ultra-low NVH levels, which would make
them ideal for sensitive forest ecosystems or environmentally sensitive areas like Varanasi.
Our Answers:
Our Bamboo-Epoxy-Fiberglass Shallow water Boats are extremely affordable and eco-friendly, simple yet
modern and a 100% locally-made alternative, providing the ease of usage of an Outboard, the high torque and
the economy of a Diesel engine or an electric motor, extremely shallow water capability at highly competitive
prices. Once in regular production, they could play a major role in reviving the waterways, opening up new
river routes as an alternative to roadways and also connecting the remote riparian areas.
In both our prototypes units we are have used use only India parts and components as we have already
identified Indian made Kohler 441 diesel Engine for the Diesel unit and are evaluating several Indian made
Electric Motors for find the suitable match with an emphasis of using or developing a locally made controller
as well as virtually all the available units in the market are imports with virtually no warranty support. We are
especially interested in utilizing SRM motors as they are high revving, with high torque and environmentally
much greener as they don’t use rare earth magnets and can be manufactured locally at half the price of PM
motors.
Apart from our relentless efforts in introducing sustainably-built and bio-degradable Bio-Composite River
Boats as alternatives to the non-recyclable and largely unaffordable FRB boats and the leaky unsafe wooden
motorized country boats as well as developing Shallow-Water Propulsion Systems; there are currently zero
innovations or Startups active in the field of water transport in India.
And yet, change has to begin somewhere!
For more information Contact: Ravi Deka, AKVOTRANSIRO TECH PVT LTD.
+91-8130529772(whatsapp/viber),
Email: akvotransiro@protonmail.com, Web: www.akvotransiro.co.in
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