Union minister for ports, shipping and waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal took to Twitter on Monday to clarify that the world’s longest river cruise, MV Ganga Vilas did not get stuck in Bihar.
Terming all reports on the incident as fake news, the Union minister said that they were being spread with malicious intent.
It may be noted that earlier today, several reports emerged claiming that the vessel had been stuck just three days into its journey after being flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 13.
Sonowal tweeted, “There is Fake News being spread regarding #GangaVilas with malicious intent by the usual suspects.”
The 51-day journey will see the MV Ganga Vilas enter Bangladesh and pass through for 15 days. This cruise will pass through a total of 27 river systems of UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Bangladesh, and Assam. It will pass through three major rivers Ganga, Meghna, and Brahmaputra.
Earlier in the day, several reports claimed that the vessel had got stuck in Bihar's Chhapra due to shallow water in the Ganga, citing government officials.
The cruise which was scheduled to dock at the shore for the tourists to visit Chirand, an archaeological site, got stuck because of water deficiency in the Ganges near the Doriganj area of the district, several media reports mentioned.
Chhapra's CO Satendra Singh who is a part of the arrangement-making team was quoted by ANI as saying that adequate arrangements have been made for the tourists in Chirand.
"SDRF team is stationed at the ghat so that immediate action can be taken on any untoward situation. Due to less water, there is a problem in bringing the cruise to the shore. Therefore, efforts are being made to bring tourists through small boats," he said.
