World's Longest River Cruise 'MV Ganga Vilas' Reaches Bihar’s Capital Patna

The world's longest river cruise, MV Ganga Vilas, reached Bihar’s capital Patna this evening (16 January).

The cruise vessel sailed as per its schedule on the National Waterway - 1 (NW-1) anchoring at Ghazipur on Friday, Buxar on Saturday and Mauzampur (Arrah) on Sunday (15 January). After stopping at Doriganj today, the cruise vessel reached Patna.

As per the planned itinerary the tourist visited destinations en-route, including Doriganj to see the ruins of the Fort.

“All through its journey the waterway levels were fully maintained and monitored for the required draft of navigation facilities. The draft waterway at Doriganj is 3.5 m much above the vessel draft requirement of 1.4 m,” Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said.

The ministry also said that there is no truth in the news that the vessel is stuck at Chhapra.

MV Ganga Vilas is the first-ever cruise vessel to be made in India and it began its journey from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and will reach Dibrugarh in Assam, via Bangladesh.

It will cover 3,200 kilometers across 27 river systems, in five states, in India and Bangladesh in 51 days.

Flagged off by PM Modi on Friday (13 January), the 51-day 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.