form traffic in the upstream direction. North Buckingham Canal The canal can form significant traffic because of salt pans located all along the canal stretch. Rice, food grains, fertilizers, chili peppers, tobacco, fish, granite and vegetables in the downstream direction from Peddaganjam to Chennai. In the upstream direction from Chennai to Peddaganjam, the main traffic consists of fertilizers from Madras Fertilisers (MFL) plant located at Ennore and salt from Chennai. South Buckingham Canal & Kaluvelly Tank The canal stretch from Basin bridge up to Marakkanam can constitute significant traffic of salt and marine products because of salt pans and aquaculture shrimp farms all along the route. In the upstream direction from Pondicherry via Marakkanam to Chennai, the main traffic consists of salt, fertilizers and timber from Marakkanam, Thiruvallur, Kanchipuram, Villupuram and Pondicherry. NW-4 as Natural Barrier The stretch of Buckingham Canal saved thousands of lives in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu along the coromandal coast from tsunami waves, that occurred on 26 December 2004. Dr. B. Ramalingeswara Rao of National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), Hyderabad reports that the Buckingham Canal acted as a buffer zone and regulated the tsunami waves on the coastal region over from Pedda Ganjam to Chennai. The tsunami waves drifted away towards the existing low-lying creeks at several places. The canal from Chennai (Marakkanam) to Durga Raya Patnam near Nellore and then to Pedda Ganjam, all along the east coast was filled with tsunami water, which overflowed at a few places and receded back to sea within 10–15 minutes. This saved the lives of several fishermen, especially in coastal Andhra Pradesh and parts of Chennai city. Cost The cost for developing a waterway in India is approximately per km, whereas developing a railway or roadway costs around – per km. As per estimates drawn by consultants M/s RITES in 2002, the project will cost and facilitate movement of 100 tonne vessels in the irrigation canal portion and 350 tonne in the rivers and Buckingham canal portion. The cost was re-estimated by WAPCOS in 2009 to , which involves two phase development of the project. Phase one of the project envisages development of a stretch comprising Godavari and Krishna rivers, and Kakinada and Eluru canals, which has maximum cargo potential, at an estimated cost of and land acquisition for remaining stretch at an estimated cost of . Phase two of the project involves development