The cruises will ply on the Ganga from 8 am to 2 pm every day. Vivadha will use its two double-deck vessels — MV Ahalya with a seating capacity of 100 and MV Millenium with a seating capacity of 50 — for the day trips.
The trip will begin from Millennium Park Ghat and terminate in Bandel. The shore sights will include Belur Math, Botanical Gardens and Bandel Church.
“We were getting queries about day trips for sometime now and have finally decided to start them,” said R Sushila, executive director, Vivadha Inland Waterways Limited (VIWL).
At a cost of Rs 1,000 per head, the trip includes breakfast and a traditional Bengali lunch. Bookings can be made at the Millennium Ghat on a first-come first-serve basis. “Whether we have just two people or 20, the quality will certainly remain the same,” said Sushila.
A three-nights and four-day trip cruise service from Kolkata to Azimganj in Murshidabad is to be launched by November. Vivadha Cruises already operate in the Sunderbans with trips of a similar duration. “Since December, we have been using the vessel MV Paramahansa, which has 32 luxurious rooms, for the trips to Sunderbans. The occupancy has been around 35 per cent so far,” said Sushila. The package is priced at Rs 35,000 per person.
“We had introduced ferry services to various ghats for the convenience of everyday commuters way back in 1980. Today we are happy to see people explore Ganga as a tourist destination,” said A K Bose, Chairman, West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation (WBSTC). Vivadha has a tie-up with WBSTC and has a cruise leased from them. It also has a strategic tie-up with the forest department for the tours to Sunderbans.