Current Affairs Date: 30 May 2023

⇒ The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi flagged off the World’s Longest River Cruise-MV Ganga Vilas and inaugurated the Tent City at Varanasi via video conferencing on 13 January 2023.

• • He also inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for several other inland waterways projects worth more than Rs 1000 crores during the event.

World’s Longest River Cruise- MV Ganga Vilas:

» The MV Ganga Vilas cruise is a first-of-its-kind cruise service. MV Ganga Vilas began its journey from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. MV Ganga Vilas travelled around 3200 km and sailed across 27 river systems in India and Bangladesh.

• • The world’s longest river cruise MV Ganga Vilas reached Dibrugarh on 28 February. During its journey, the cruise crossed 5 states namely Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Assam.
  • 51 days cruise was 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.
  • MV Ganga Vilas has three decks, 18 suites on board with a capacity of 36 tourists, with all the luxury amenities.
  • The MV Ganga Vilas vessel is 62 meters in length, 12 meters in width and comfortably sails with a draft of 1.4 meters.
  • The ship follows sustainable principles at its core as it is equipped with pollution-free mechanisms and noise control technologies.
  • The maiden voyage of MV Ganga Vilas witnessed 32 tourists from Switzerland relishing the Varanasi to Dibrugarh journey.
  • The MV Ganga Vilas cruise is curated to bring out the best of the country to be showcased to the world.

Grand curtain raiser program on the eve of the launch of the world’s longest river cruise:

Ministry of Culture organised a grand curtain raiser cultural program ‘Sur Sarita – Symphony of Ganga’ on the eve of the launch of the world’s longest river cruise at Varanasi on 12 Janaury 2023.

• • Renowned singer Shankar Mahadevan led the grand concert organised at the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor and regaled the audiences with his beautiful renditions.

» In another interesting event, National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), Kolkata under Ministry of Culture organised a Mobile Science Exhibition on Maa Gange: Arth Ganga from 12th January.

• • The exhibition was flagged off from Varanasi before the concert.
  • The exhibition is a tribute to the Ganga for public awareness about conservation and restoration of the holy river.

Tent City at Varanasi:

» Tent City has been conceptualised on the banks of the River Ganga to tap the potential of tourism in the region.

• • The project has been developed opposite to city ghats which will provide accommodation facilities and cater to the increased tourist influx in Varanasi, especially since the inauguration of Kashi Vishwanath Dham.
  • It has been developed by Varanasi Development Authority in PPP mode.
  • The tourists will reach the Tent City by boats from different Ghats situated in the vicinity.
  • The tent city will be operational from October to June every year and will be dismantled for three months due to the rise in river water level in the rainy season.

Inland Waterway projects:

» Prime Minister inaugurated Haldia Multi-Modal Terminal in West Bengal.

• • Developed under Jal Marg Vikas Project, Haldia Multi-Modal Terminal has a cargo handling capacity of around over 3 million Metric Tonne Per Annum (MMTPA) and the berths are designed to handle vessels up to around 3000 Deadweight tonnage (DWT).

» The Prime Minister also inaugurated four floating community jetties at Saidpur, Chochakpur, Zamania in Ghazipur district and at Kanspur in Ballia district in Uttar Pradesh.

• • Besides, the Prime Minister laid foundation stones for the five Community Jetties at Digha, Nakta Diyara, Barh, Panapur in Patna district and Hasanpur in Samastipur district in Bihar.
  • More than 60 community jetties are being constructed along the river Ganga across the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal to boost the economic activities and improve the livelihoods of local communities in the region.

» The Prime Minister also inaugurated the Maritime Skill Development Centre for North East at Guwahati. It will help hone the rich talent pool in the North Eastern region and will provide for better employment opportunities in the burgeoning logistics industry.

» In addition to these, the Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for a ship repair facility and an elevated road at Pandu Terminal in Guwahati.

• • The Ship Repair facility at the Pandu Terminal will save a lot of valuable time as it takes more than a month for a ship to be transported to the Kolkata Repair facility and back.