World’s Longest River Cruise flagged off
The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has laid the foundation stone for a ship repair facility and an elevated road at Pandu Terminal in Guwahati.
The Ship Repair facility at the Pandu Terminal will save a lot of valuable time as it takes more than a month for a ship to be transported to the Kolkata Repair facility and back.
Moreover, it will also result in huge savings in terms of money as the transportation cost of the ship will also be saved.
The dedicated road will linked the Pandu Terminal to NH 27, enabling 24-hour connectivity.
Modi also flagged off World’s Longest River Cruise – MV Ganga Vilas in Varanasi via video conferencing on 13 Jan 2023.
The MV Ganga Vilas will begin its journey from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and travel around 3,200 km in 51 days to reach Dibrugarh in Assam via Bangladesh, sailing across 27 river systems in India and Bangladesh.
Modi also inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for several other inland waterways projects worth more than Rs.1,000 crores during the event.
In line with the Prime Minister’s endeavour to boost river cruise tourism, the huge untapped potential of river cruises will get unlocked with the launch of this service and it will herald a new age of river cruise tourism for India.
He pointed out that the longest river cruise from Kashi to Dibrugarh will bring to the fore places of tourism in North India on the world tourism map.
Other projects being dedicated today in Varanasi, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam will give a push to the tourism and employment potential in eastern India.
There is a new law and detailed action plan for developing waterways in big rivers of the country, said the Prime Minister, adding that there are 111 national waterways in the country and about two dozen of which are in operation.
Waterways are not just beneficial to the environment but also help in saving money as operating costs of these river-based routes is two-and-a-half times lesser than that of roadways, and one-third lesser when compared to railways.
Highlighting the potential of more than 125 rivers and river streams, he emphasised the need to build a modern multi-modal network of waterways.
“Strong connectivity is essential for building a developed India.”
The Prime Minister expressed the belief that the rivers will give new heights to water power and trade and tourism of the country. fiinews.com
