Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to flag off the world’s longest river cruise — ‘Ganga Vilas’ — from Varanasi to Dibrugarh via Bangladesh on January 13, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Monday. Covering a journey of 3200 km in 50 days and passing through 27 river systems in India and Bangladesh, the cruise ship will give tourists a chance to visit over 50 architecturally important places, including world heritage sites. Referring to this, PM Modi, while launching other projects in West Bengal, stated that this will be a unique cruise in the world, and will reflect the growth of cruise tourism in India.

Additionally, this cruise will also pass through national parks and sanctuaries, including the Sundarbans Delta and the Kaziranga National Park. To make the experience on the cruise enjoyable, there will be facilities like music, cultural programs, a gym, a spa, an open-air observation deck, personalized butler service, etc.

According to the timetable released earlier, Ganga Vilas Cruise will start its journey from Varanasi and will reach Patna on the 8th day, passing through Buxar, Ramnagar, and Ghazipur. From Patna, the cruise will set sail for Kolkata and will reach the West Bengal capital on the 20th day via Farakka and Murshidabad. The next day, it will set off for Dhaka and enter the Bangladesh border. It will remain in the country waters for the next 15 days. Finally, it will come back to India through Guwahati before sailing through Sibsagar and reaching its final destination at Dibrugarh.

Recently, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal stated that the development of coastal and river shipping, including cruise services, will remain one of their top priorities. With regard to this, the PM said that the Centre has taken up the task of developing around 100 national waterways and that the target is to see world-class cruises operating on these waterways.

According to timesofindia