India News | World Witnessing Transforming India; Kashi Embarked on New Journey with Launch of MV Ganga Vilas: Yogi Adityanath

Varanasi, Jan 13 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said that in the past eight years, the world has seen a transforming India and that Kashi (Varanasi) has embarked on a new journey with the launch of the longest river cruise.

Speaking at the flagging off of the world's longest river cruise-MV Ganga Vilas and inauguration of the Tent City by Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conferencing, Adityanath said that new doors of possibilities have also opened along with the launch of the river cruise.

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"Today is an important day. In the past eights years, the world has seen a transforming India. Kashi (Varanasi) has embarked on a new journey. The oldest city of the world (Kashi), which is famous as the spiritual and cultural capital of India, in the past eight years has emerged on the global stage in new 'kaya ' (physique) and new 'kalevar' (form)," Adityanath said.

He added that along with Kashi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand are also "entering into a new era".

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Highlighting the landlocked geographical feature of Uttar Pradesh, the Chief Minister said, "Being a landlocked state, UP used to yearn, as exporting MSME products to the international market used to be expensive. This constantly made the traders worry. With the commencement of the waterway number-1, the concept of landlocked state has been broken, and Kashi has been connected with the eastern port".

He said that with the formation of Vishwanath Dham, the number of tourists and devotees in Kashi has increased manifold.

"Along with this, new doors of possibilities have also opened. The advance booking of the Ganga Vilas River Cruise for the next two years is an example of this," he said.

The Chief Minister said that today's programme demonstrates Namami Ganga's new level of success.

"Earlier, people were hesitant to take bath in river Ganga. The success of Prayagraj Kumbh in 2019 serves as concrete evidence of Namami Ganga's achievement," he said.

He also said that there has been a change in the lives of more than 1,600 boatmen of Kashi who have linked their livelihood with the Ganga.

"The government did the work of connecting the boatmen with CNG. Today, every boatman here earns enough money to last the entire year in a single season. This is not only the success of the Namami Ganga project but also shows the self-reliance of boatmen," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Union minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Ayush Sarbananda Sonowal said that it is due to the good work done by Prime Minister Modi that two mighty rivers like Brahmaputra and Ganga could be linked.

"The work which has been done in the past eight years to give strength to the waterways by Modi ji is the reason that today a golden opportunity has come to link Brahmaputra with Ganga. The journey (of the cruise) will not be any ordinary one. It is also an opportunity to highlight the strength and the resource of the waterway, give a chance to the countrymen to strengthen the economy, enhance friendship with neighbouring countries via waterways and forge a strong connection of the North-East with different states of India by Prime Minister's Act East policy," Sonowal said.

The shipping minister accused the previous governments of ignoring North-East India.

"Previous governments did not give attention to the North-East and it was known as a backward region. The dream of giving strength to the region through the Act East policy has also been realised today," he said.

"Today is a historic day in the world for river cruise because it is the longest (such) journey (in the world). This will not only boost tourism but will also open avenues for trade and commerce and also strengthen the economy of the farmers," he said.

The Union minister while pointing towards the river cruise ship said that it is an example of Atma Nirbhar Bharat.

It has been built in the country and not purchased from any other country, he said.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav also addressed the gathering via video conferencing.

MV Ganga Vilas began its journey from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and will travel around 3,200 km in 51 days to reach Dibrugarh in Assam via Bangladesh, sailing across 27 river systems in India and Bangladesh.

MV Ganga Vilas has three decks, 18 suites on board with a capacity of 36 tourists, with all the luxury amenities. The maiden voyage has 32 tourists from Switzerland signing up for the entire length of the journey.

The MV Ganga Vilas cruise is curated to bring out the best of the country to be showcased to the world.

The 51 days cruise is planned with visits to 50 tourist spots, including world heritage sites, national parks, river ghats, and major cities like Patna in Bihar, Sahibganj in Jharkhand, Kolkata in West Bengal, Dhaka in Bangladesh and Guwahati in Assam.

The journey will give the tourists an opportunity to embark upon an experiential voyage and indulge in the art, culture, history, and spirituality of India and Bangladesh.

In line with PM's endeavour to boost river cruise tourism, the huge untapped potential of river cruises has got unlocked with the launch of this service and it will herald a new age of river cruise tourism for India.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)