Ganga Vilas Cruise

Recently, Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi Ji flagged off the longest river cruise of the world i.e MV Ganga Vilas from Varanasi. It will travel from Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) to Dibrugarh (Assam), on its voyage it will cross 05 states of India namely Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West bengal and Assam. It will also travel through Bangladesh while moving towards its final destination Dibrugarh. This Ganga Vilas Cruise will pass through 27 river system including major rivers like Ganga, Bhagirathi, Hooghly, Brahmputra etc.

During the inauguration of the MV Ganga Vilas cruise, Prime minister also inaugurated a tent city in Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) and laid foundation stone of various other inland waterways projects. According to the Government, along with cruise services, coastal and river shipping development is one of the top priorities of the Government.

Some features of MV Ganga Vilas cruise :-

• It is 62.5 meters in length and 12.8 meters in width and sails with a draft of 1.4 meters.
• It has 18 suites and all necessary amenities and facilities of 5 star hotel like restaurant, spa, library, swimming pool, sundeck etc.
• It will move through National waterway -1(on Ganga – Bhagirathi – Hooghly river) , India Bangladesh protocol route and National waterway – 2(on Brahmputra river).
• Various musical and dancing events are also organised on the cruise for entertainment of the passengers.
• Cost of travelling in the cruise is approx. 25000 Rupees per person per day.
• Its tickets can be booked from website of Antara river cruises.

What it will cover during its journey ?

It will travel a total distance of 3200 Km. from Varanasi to Dibrugarh (Assam) in 51 days. Total 50 tourist spots can be seen during its voyage including National parks like Kaziranga national park, wildlife sanctuaries, temples like Kamakhya temple of Guwahati (Assam) etc. , ghats, world heritage sites, mangroves of Sunderban, forts, museums, islands like Mazuli island of Assam etc. It will travel though major cities like Patna(Bihar), Sahibganj(Jharkhand), Kolkata(West bengal), Dhaka(Bangladesh), and Guwahati(Assam)

From Ganga’s Arti in Varanasi to Buddhist site of Sarnath(where Gautam Buddha gave his first sermon) to Vikramshila university to Majuli island this trip is meant for nature lovers having deep interest in history and culture of India.

Who is the managing authority of the Ganga Vilas cruise ?

• It is designed on PPP (Public Private partnership) model.
• It is managed by private operators like Antara luxury river cruise, JM Baxi river cruise and also supported by IWAI (Inland waterways authority of India) under the Ministry of Shipping, ports and waterways.

Importance of this cruise :-

• It will boost river cruise tourism sector. This project has put India on map of the world in case of river tourism.
• It will help in revamping inland waterways of India. As work is going on to revamp more than 100 inland waterways of India.
• It will help in generating employment both direct and indirect in the concerned area.
• It will educate people about nature, history and different cultures of the country

Steps taken by Government to boost country’s cruise tourism industry :-

• Infrastructure was upgraded or developed.
• Priority berthing for cruise ships is provided.
• Romoval of ousting charges involved.
• Rationalisation of port fees
• e-visa facilities provided for the passengers.

Target in field of cruise tourism:-

• India aims to increase cruise passenger traffic from 0.4 million at present to 4 million.
• Economic potential of cruise terminal is expected to increase from $110 million to $5.5 billion in the coming years.

Extra Note :- In India, we have already 8 river cruise vessels are in opeartion between Kolkata and Varanasi.

Source : Indian Express

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