The Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma and the Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal witnessed the signing ceremony.
The MoU will facilitate modern ferry service on a ‘Hop On Hop Off’ among seven (07) historic religious sites around Guwahati. The seven religious sites are Kamakhya, Pandunath, Ashwalknata, Doul Govinda, Umananda, Chakreshwar and Auniati Satra to be covered with the help of this agreement.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed for the development of ‘Riverine Based Religious Tourism Circuit’ among Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), Sagarmala Development Corporation Limited (SDCL), Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) and Department of Inland Waterways Transport (DIWT), Government of Assam.
The circuit will sail from Hanuman Ghat, Uzan Bazar and the ferry service is expected to reduce the overall travel time to less than 2 hours for completing one complete circuit. SDCL and IWAI will jointly contribute 55% of the project cost while the remaining will be provided by ATDC. DIWT has consented to provide the usage of Ghats near the temples free of cost for the project.
