Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh):For upping the footfall of devotees through Ganga Ghats so that they can have the dasrshan of Lord Vishwanath, the plying of water taxi in Ganga river will commence soon. The work on project has begun. Besides the purpose of the project is to popularise the river water route and decongest the Varanasi roads. The introduction of water taxi will serve the purpose of sightseeing for tourists along the Ganga Ghats before arriving at the Ganga Dwar (entrance gate) from where the devotees will enter the Kashi Vishwanath shrine.
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The Varanasi administration has chosen two Ganga Ghats--first is Namo Ghat and the other is Ravidas Ghat--from where the water taxi will available at an interval of one hour. The introduction of water taxi will help in decongesting the traffic on the road. The water taxi project will jointly implemented by the Varanasi administration and Lord Vishwanath Dham temple management committee.
Disclosing the information about the project, Varanasi Commissioner Kaushal Raj Sharma, said, "We are working on project in coordination with Lord Vishwanath temple management committee. The service will be available to devotees at a nominal rate. Although the fee for hiring the water taxi has not been decided. But tenders will be floated soon in this regard." During the initial period, motorised vessels running on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) will be roped in for the service. But later on boats operating on solar battery will be introduced for the pollution free travelling, added the Commissioner.
