MV Ganga Vilas: PM Modi to flag off ‘world’s longest river cruise’

GUWAHATI-  PM Modi to flag off MV  Ganga Vilas, the world’s longest river cruise  from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to Dibrugarh in Assam via the Indo-Bangladesh protocol route on January 13, informed Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal here on Monday.

About the 3200 km-long luxury cruise, he said the MV Ganga Vilas will traverse through 27 river systems covering 50 tourist spots including World Heritage spots, national parks in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and before entering Assam, it will pass through neighbouring Bangladesh.

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According to a government statement issued Sunday, the cruise ship will pass through major cities like Patna in Bihar, Sahibganj in Jharkhand, Kolkata in West Bengal, Dhaka in Bangladesh and Guwahati in Assam, before reaching Dibrugarh, where it is expected to arrive on March 1.

The river cruise is aimed at integrating the National Waterways one and two to unlock the tourism potential of both rivers – the Ganga and the Brahmaputra, Sonowal said.

The 51-day cruise, costing $300 per day, will carry 32 tourists from Switzerland and 14 of them will disembark at Kolkata with an equal number of travellers boarding it for the onward journey to Dibrugarh.

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Another set of 32 tourists from the same country will board the three-deck ship with 18 suites on their way to Varanasi, Sonowal pointed out.

The ship will enter Assam on February 18 and will halt at Dhubri, Joghoghopal, Pandu, Kaziranga and Majuli, before reaching Dibrugarh on March one.

‘’Besides tourists discovering the treasures of the country, it will also help the new generation know more about the two rivers and be a source of employment,’’ he said.