Ganga Vilas cruise vessel stuck in Bihar's Chapra due to shallow water
Darpan News Desk IANS, 16 Jan, 2023 01:26 PM
Patna, Jan 16 (IANS) The Ganga Vilas cruise vessel was stuck in the river in Bihar's Chapra thanks to silt and shallow water on Monday.
The Ganga Vilas cruise, flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi on January 13, was to travel up to Assam's Dibrugarh covering 3,210 km in 51 days crossing 27 small and big rivers. Its route was Ghazipur (UP), Buxar, Chapra (Saran), Patna Munger, Sultanganj, Bhagalpur (Bihar), West Bengal, Dhaka (Bangladesh), Guwahati, and Dibrugarh with stops at 50 places.
When the cruise reached Chapra town in Saran district, it struck into the shallow water. The operators of the cruise lowered the anchor in the middle of the river and made arrangements for small boats for the passengers to travel to the river banks to see historic remains of Chirand, declared a heritage site by Archaeological Survey of India.
The first trip of Ganga Vilas cruise had 32 tourists from Switzerland apart from other countries. Some domestic tourists are also travelling. The cruise vessel has world class facilities including 18 rooms, a 40-seater restaurant, gym, spa, open balcony, lecture hall, internet, television and many other entertainment facilities available.
The cruise vessel is 62.5 metres long and 12.8 metres wide with a 40,000 litre fuel tank and 60,000 litre water storage capacity.
The module is being jointly operated by Canada-based Lakhbir Singh, alias Landa, Pakistan-based Harvinder Singh Rinda and Italy-based Harpreet Singh, alias Happy. The arrested accused has been identified as Yograj Singh, alias Yog, a resident of Rajoke village in Tarn Taran district.
A police officer said that the narcotic substances were recovered from several soap cases kept in hidden chambers in an 18-wheel truck. The police have arrested the driver Hannan Ali. The vehicle was coming from Manipur and the consignment was most probably to be delivered in Guwahati.
Delhi Police had sought the custody of the arrested persons, which was granted by a duty magistrate on Tuesday. The four persons were arrested on Sunday night. Recently, a fresh case under the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) was lodged by the Delhi Police against the members of PFI, which was banned for five years by the Centre last week.
Punjab Police have arrested 5,824 drug smugglers, including 916 big fish, since July 5, Inspector General Sukhchain Singh Gill said here on Tuesday. He said 203 kg heroin was recovered. Additionally, 147.5 kg heroin was recovered by Punjab Police from seaports of Gujarat and Maharashtra, taking the total effective recovery of heroin to 350 kg in just three months.
Farmers under the aegis of Kisan Mazdur Sangarash Committee (KMSC) held protest and rail roko prorgramme at 17 different places in Punjab on Monday to mark the anniversary of Lakhimpur Kheri incident. It may be noted that 8 persons including four farmers had died during a protest in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3, 2021.
Announcing this on the floor of Assembly, he said the farmers will get the additional amount under State Agreed Price (SAP) of sugarcane as compared to the last year. With this decision, the state government will spend additional Rs 200 crore annually to benefit the farmers.
