The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has launched the world’s longest tourist cruise route. Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the 50-day river cruise from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to Dibrugarh in Assam, covering approximately 3,200 km distance across 27 river systems, including Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly, Brahmaputra and West Coast Canal in India, and traveling 1,100 km in Bangladesh.
The luxury cruise aims to boost tourism in India and cover 50 major tourist sites, including some heritage sites, famous Ganga Aarti at Varanasi, and sanctuaries like Kaziranga National Park and the Sundarbans Delta. The development of India-Bangladesh Protocol route has played a key role in planning the cruise service. The cruise will also act as a reflection of growing cruise tourism in India.
The Centre has taken up the task of developing 100 national waterways with the target of having world-class cruises operating on these waterways alongside cargo movement. The cruise is an initiative by the government to promote water transport in the country. The development of national waterways has been taken up to increase the use of inland waterways as a cheaper and less polluting means of transportation.
