Key Facts about Tizu River

July 17, 2024

The Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways recently announced that the ministry has decided to carry out feasibility studies to use the National Waterways-101 on the Tizu Zunki River for the transportation of cargo and passengers.

About Tizu River:

  • Nagaland has four main rivers, namely, Doyang, Dhansiri, Dhiku and Tizu. 
  • The first three flow towards the west through the Assam plains to join River Brahmaputra, while the Tizu River system flows towards the east and southeast and pours into the Irrawaddy in Myanmar. 
  • The Tizu River forms an important drainage system in the eastern part of Nagaland. 
    • It originates from the central part of Nagaland state and runs through a northeast direction, flows through Kiphire and Phek districts and confluences in the Chindwin River of Myanmar.
    • The Chindwin River further enters into Irrawaddy River, the largest river of Myanmar.
    • The River Irrawaddy further drains into the Andaman Sea via the Irrawaddy Delta after travelling through river ports like Mandalay.
  • The main tributaries of the River Tizu are river Zungki, Lanye, and Likimro.
    • The Zungki River, which is the biggest tributary of Tizu, starts from the north-eastern part of Changdong forest in the south of Teku, and flows in a southern direction towards Noklak, Shamator, and Kiphire, and finally joins Tizu below Kiphire.

About National Waterways 101:

  • The proposed Tizu-Zungki waterway, or NW 101, will link Nagaland with the Chindwin River, Myanmar, and beyond.
  • On the Nagaland side, it is set to run approximately 42 km, starting from Longmatra in Kiphire to Avangkhu in Phek’s Meluri sub-division.
  • From Avangkhu, it will link up with the Chindwin and on to the Tamanthi port, Myanmar, traversing some 117 km.