Guwahati: As Ganga Vilas cruise ship arrived at Indo Bangladesh border at around 10:30 am of Saturday after sailing through the Bay of Bengal, Union ports, shipping & waterways and Ayush minister Sarbananda Sonowal termed it as a watershed moment in the inland waterways transportation towards transformation of northeast India. Congratulating the people of Northeast on this historic moment, Sonowal commented that it would unlock a huge potential in Brahmaputra river tourism. The cruise vessel was later escorted to Dhubri port by the afternoon hours.
“Northeast had a flourishing trade and commerce via inland waterways before the partition of India. The successful voyage of Ganga Vilas has opened a new vista of possibilities, opportunities and realities. The vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring transformation via transportation has been realised as Ganga Vilas enters the Assam phase of its journey,” said Sonowal.
Flagged off by PM Modi on 13 January, the historic cruise set sail from Varanasi and after traversing through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal as well as Bangladesh, it arrives at Dhubri on its 39 day of the voyage. Dubbed as the longest river cruise in the world, the Varanasi to Bogibeel voyage by Ganga Vilas is scheduled to complete its journey on 1 March next in Dibrugarh drawing a close to its 51 day cruise.
Upon arrival at Dhubri, the ship was anchored on Brahmaputra and the guests were taken via MV Pratima to the reach jetty at Dhubri customs port for immigration clearance. Over 30 tourists travelling on the landmark voyage were received by the Dhubri district magistrate and Inland Waterways Authority of India’s regional director along with other officials. Many self help groups put up stalls where the tourists witnessed the local crafts and a Koch Rajbongshi troupe performed traditional dances on the bank of Brahmaputra. The tourists are also scheduled to visit Asarikandi craft village, Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib and Darshana of Holy Peepal tree, etc. Ganga Vilas will resume its onward eastern journey on Saturday.
