MV Ganga Vilas, the luxury tourist cruise that began a 3,200-km-long voyage on January 13 with 28 foreign tourists on board Tuesday reached Dibrugarh in eastern Assam, its last destination.
The world's longest river cruise, spanning 50 days, was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and reached Assam via India-Bangladesh international river route. During the journey, the vessel stopped at 50 major tourist sites including Patna Sahib, Bodh Gaya, Vikramshila, Dhaka, the Sunderbans, silk village Sualkuchi, the Kaziranga National Park before reaching Dibrugarh in Assam. It crossed at least 27 rivers in India and Bangladesh.
Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal welcomed the tourists at Bogibeel in Dibrugarh on Tuesday. "The successful completion of the journey by MV Ganga Vilas has opened up a new vista of opportunity in the river tourism potential in the entire South Asia region," he said.
Indigenously built with a unique design and a futuristic vision, MV Ganga Vilas has three decks and 18 suites on board with facilities for 36 tourists. "It is already booked for to and fro journey for the next two years," Sonowal said. "Through this route, tourists have an immersive expedition while exploring the art, culture, history, and spirituality of both India and Bangladesh."
"The robustness of the ship during the course of this journey shows how our tremendous strength in ship-building capacity is a world-class enterprise. The successful cruise movement as well as cargo movement on inland waterways is a testament to the vision of PM Modi to bring about transformation through transportation. Today, we have realised another milestone to unlock tremendous potential in the blue economy of India.”
Sonowal said, “Our glorious history of riverine trade is set to be reclaimed with the successful completion of the world's longest river cruise here today. We have reclaimed our access from the Brahmaputra to international marine trade routes via the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route and coastal ecosystem."
Sonowal, who is a Rajya Sabha member from Assam and former CM, encouraged private operators to identify the river cruise circuits of their choice on various waterways and to enter this nascent sector in order to be a part of river cruise tourism ecosystem in the country, particularly in the Northeastern region.