LUCKNOW: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the world's longest river cruise ‘Ganga Vilas’ through a video conference in his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi on January 13.
Ganga Vilas, the Varanasi-Dibrugarh river ship, will travel 3200 km in 50 days.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath along with Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal will be present at the flag-off ceremony at Ravidas Ghat. Thereafter, they will inaugurate a high-end tent city along the banks of the river Ganga.
After the flag-off, Ganga Vilas will leave for Dibrugarh with 33 tourists including 32 from Switzerland and one from Germany. The vessel measuring 62.5 m (length), 12.8 m (width) and 1.35 m (draft) will cover a distance of 3200 km by crossing over 27 river systems in India and Bangladesh.
The voyage would halt at over 50 architecturally important places, including world heritage sites. The vessel will also pass through national parks and sanctuaries including the Sundarbans Delta and Kaziranga National Park.
The cruise, which departed from Kolkata on December 22 with 32 Swiss visitors onboard, is likely to arrive in Varanasi on January 9.
According to the Director of Ganga Vilas Cruises, Raj Singh, Swiss visitors will travel to Varanasi and explore the city’s spiritual and religious sites.
To welcome the Swiss tourists, the Prayagraj unit of the Department of Cultural Affairs will organise a concert of popular Bollywood singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan in the courtyard of Kashi Vishwanath Corridor on January 12.
Inauguration of Tent City
According to Varanasi Development Authority vice chairman Abhishek Goyal, booking of accommodation has been opened on the official website, other travel sites and offline.
Accommodation in the tent city will become available from January 15.