Several National Waterways, including the Ganga, Sutlej an Indus, are being utilised for water sports activities by respective state governments while implementing safety standards developed by the National Institute of Water Sports (NIWS) - Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITTM), the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday.
Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, in a written reply, said the National Waterways already being utilised for water sports include, inter alia: Ganga (Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand), Sutlej (Himachal Pradesh), Indus (Ladakh), Chenab, Godavari, Kaveri, Krishna, Mahanadi, Narmada, Sabarmati, Netravati, Sharavati, Tungabhadra, Mandovi, Chapora, Ghataprabha, Ravi and canal systems in Kerala.
He, however, said, “At present, no formal proposal is with the Ministry of Tourism for exploring 111 declared National Waterways for water sports.” He said NIWS–IITTM has developed comprehensive safety standards and SOPs for various water sports activities.
“These have been adopted/incorporated by several States/UTs in their respective water sports and adventure tourism policies. Technical support has been provided to States/UTs such as Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa, Gujarat, Odisha and Puducherry,” he said.
Shekhawat said the enforcement of safety regulations rests with the respective State/UT governments. These include Tourist Police in Goa, Tourist Safety Enforcement Team (TSET) in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, State and District-level Adventure Tourism Committees in Gujarat and Odisha.
He said compliance with the safety standards is monitored by State/UT authorities through periodic inspections, audits and enforcement teams as per their respective guidelines. The Ministry of Tourism, through its autonomous institute “National Institute of Water Sports (NIWS–IITTM)”, conducts courses related to scuba diving, diving, surfing, parasailing, canoeing and other water sports, he said.
The NIWS-IITTM is the nodal Government institution for training, certification and capacity building in water sports in India. In the written reply, the Minister said that, at present, no formal proposal is with the Ministry of Tourism for the development of water sports infrastructure in Coastal Karnataka.
“However, some States/UTs such as Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Gujarat and Odisha have approached NIWS–IITTM for the establishment of satellite centres to support capacity building and safe water-based tourism,” said Shekhawat.