Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) is committed towards developing Inland Waterways. In this line, an MoU for ‘Riverine based tourism Circuit’ being developed over river Brahmaputra will be signed between Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), Sagarmala Development Company Limited (SDCL), Assam Tourism Development Corporation Limited (ATDC) and Directorate of Inland Water Transport (DIWT) Assam in Guwahati on 19th May 2023. The signing ceremony will take place in august presence of Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister of Assam and Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Ayush, Government of India.
The project is being developed under the Sagarmala Programme at an initial cost of Rs.40-45 crores. 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.
This Sagarmala project will connect the seven historic temples namely Kamakhya, Pandunath, Ashwaklanta, Doul Govinda, Umananda, Chakreshwar and Auniati Satra situated in Guwahati. The circuit will sail from Hanuman Ghat, Uzan Bazar and will complete its journey by covering all the above-mentioned temples through waterways. The ferry service is expected to reduce the overall travel time to less than 2 hours for completing one complete circuit.