cruise down Ganga, Jamuna and Brahmaputra

Imagine cruising down three prolific waterways of West Bengal, Assam and Bangladesh at one go! And you no more buy air tickets to Guwahati, but cruise down the mighty rivers, with even a chance to touch grounds with the soil of may be your forefathers. Yes, we are talking about Bangladesh. Come March 2019, people of Bengal will get a chance to hop on to a cruise liner that is proposed to commence its trip from Kolkata, reach Guwahati via Haldia and then move on to Dhaka in Bangladesh. 

In a recent interview, Pravir Pandey, chairman of Indian Water Authority of India said, “The cruise will be connected by three rivers - Ganga, Jamuna in Bangladesh and Brahmaputra in India.” The cruise will be operational from March 29th, 2019. The two countries have reached an understanding, through a standard operating procedure (SOP), for movement of passenger and cruise vessels on Inland Protocol route and coastal shipping route.

According to a senior official, ships and vessels will commence their trip from Kolkata (West Bengal) and reach Guwahati (Assam) via Haldia in Bengal to Barishal and Dhaka in Bangladesh. Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), under the aegis of shipping ministry, has taken charge to run the passenger cruise line. Ganga in India (called Padma in Bangladesh), Jamuna at Sunderbans in Bangladesh and Brahmaputra in Assam will turn into this route. The Heritage cruise liner has agreed to run cruise from Kolkata to Guwahativia Dhaka. It will start its journey from Kolkata and reach Dhaka via Sunderbans, then enter Assam from Dhubri and go up to Guwahati.