New Delhi, March 27: Opening an arena of scenic view, India is all set to explore new ways to connect to neighbouring countries. In this perspective, travelling to neighbouring country Bangladesh has now become feasible through waterways. Yes..! Bringing the dream to reality, India and Bangladesh will start a cruise service from this Friday.
The service will begin on March 29 and will take the passengers through the Sunderbans to Dhaka, a senior MEA official said. The cruise will help make optimum use of the inland waterways between the two countries. The passengers will have the option to travel from Kolkata through the Sunderbans up to Dhaka aboard luxury vessels and come back to India. This will be carried out by completing border formalities at crossing points in both the countries.
The cruise will traverse through the protocol routes which are maritime navigational routes agreed upon by the two countries in their treaties. The journey will take place for six to seven days and the cruise route to Bangladesh involves Namkhana, the Indian part of Sunderbans, the Bangladeshi part of Sunderbans, Barishal, Chandpur, Narayanganj and Dhaka.
The cruise will provide the riders a breath-taking view of three rivers- the Ganges in India, Jamuna in Bangladesh, and Brahmaputra in Assam. Each vessel would be able to accommodate around 50 tourists.
Joint Secretary at the external affairs ministry Vikram Doraiswami said that they had already started movement of goods using the inland waterways. Private cruise players will also be allowed to operate on the protocol route which will cover a distance of about 1,539 km.
Surrounded by oceans on three sides, India connects to neighbouring countries through roads, air and waterways. However, travelling to nearby Myanmar or Bangladesh via water wasn’t the most preferred mode of transportation. These routes are full of exotic vegetation and if opened to passengers would provide a scenic view.