Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the River Information System (RIS) System in New Delhi. The first of its kind in India, the new system will facilitate safe and accurate navigation on National Waterway 1 on the Ganges River. RIS is being implemented under the overall responsibility of Inland Waterway Authority of India, a statutory body administered by the Ministry of Shipping.

River Information Services (RIS) are combination of modern tracking equipment related hardware and software designed to optimize traffic and transport processes in inland navigation. The system enhances swift electronic data transfer between mobile vessels and shore (Base stations) through advance and real-time exchange of information.

RIS aims to streamline the exchange of information between waterway operators and users. This would facilitate

• Enhancement of inland navigation safety in ports and rivers.
• Better use of the inland waterways
• Environmental protection

RIS enables achievement of safe and efficient inland water transport by avoiding the following risks:-

i) Ship- to – Ship collisions
ii) Ship – Bridge collisions
iii) Groundings

Under this project, there are 30 vessels which are also equipped with Inland AIS system, short range radar and VHF.  The RIS system is subsequently being extended upto Varanasi in two more phases.

In Phase-II, the stretch from Farakka to Patna (410 Km.) will be covered by establishment of six base and one control stations at an estimated cost of Rs. 15.89 crore and the Phase-III will cover from Patna to Varanasi (356 Km.) with 4 base and one control stations at an estimated cost of Rs. 14.49 crores.