The Tamil Nadu Canals and Public Ferries Act, 1890

What the Act governs

The Tamil Nadu Canals and Public Ferries Act, 1890 applies throughout Tamil Nadu. It provides a legal framework for declaring and managing canals and public ferries, regulating vessels, protecting navigation and collecting authorised fees and tolls.

A canal under the Act is a navigable channel, or connected series of navigable channels, declared by notification to be subject to the Act. A ferry is a place where goods, animals or passengers are carried across a channel by vessels. A ferry becomes a public ferry when it is declared subject to the relevant provisions.

Canal regulation

The State Government may declare a line of navigation to be governed by the Tamil Nadu Canals and Public Ferries Act, 1890 through a notification in the Official Gazette. It may later cancel or modify the notification.

Key canal provisions include:

• Vessels using a canal must be licensed or registered as directed by the State Government, although exemptions may be granted.
• The State Government may fix licensing or registration fees and establish toll stations.
• Fees may be fixed for landing places, wharves, piers, jetties, docks, basins, sheds, warehouses and other facilities.
• Notices of specified tolls and fees must be displayed publicly in English and the district language.
• An authorised person may stop vessels operating contrary to the Act, applicable rules or licence conditions.
• Sunken or abandoned vessels and other navigation obstructions may be removed, with expenses recoverable in stated circumstances.
• Fishing devices or other structures in a canal, on a tow-path or on related land may be prohibited.

Reasonable compensation is payable where removal of an obstruction interferes with private rights.

Public ferries and existing rights

The State Government may declare a ferry to be a public ferry, define its limits and later cancel or modify the declaration. From the notified date, earlier ferry rights within those limits end, and unauthorised persons cannot carry goods, animals or passengers across the channel by vessel. Compensation is payable for extinguished ferry rights.

The State Government may manage a public ferry, authorise an operator or assign management to a local board or municipal council. It may require vessel licences and permit tolls on passengers, animals, vehicles and goods. The State Government may also apply passenger safety rules to a ferry that is not a public ferry, including rules about vessel types and passenger numbers.

Checking the current law

The supplied copy was furnished by PRS Legislative Research for information and was not independently verified. Readers should consult the relevant State department, latest government publication or gazette notification before relying on it.