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Boating on Ganga to be costlier in Varanasi

Varanasi: Tourists desirous of enjoying a boat ride in Ganga at Varanasi will have to shell out a little extra from their pockets as the Wildlife Department has decided to increase the boating charges from January 15.

“The foreign tourists will be charged Rs.350 for a boat ride in Ganga for the first three days and Rs.175 per day for the subsequent days at Varanasi from January 15 this year,” Alok Srivastav, DFO, Kashi Wildlife Division said. Similarly, the Indian tourists would have to pay Rs.30 for the first three days and Rs.20 for the subsequent days, he said.

Citing the reasons for charging the tourists, he said that the seven kilometre stretch of Ganga from Ramnagar Fort to Rajghat was declared as a turtle sanctuary in 1985 and accordingly the charges were decided upon but not applied earlier.

Srivastav said that the other wildlife sanctuaries in the State also imposed these charges. Now the wild life department had decided to collect an entry fee for the sanctuary here as well, he said. The motor boats and row boats would be charged Rs.100 and Rs.50 per day respectively, he said, adding, that the entry fee would be utilised to protect the turtles and other wild life species in the river.

Meanwhile, the boat owners have taken to the streets protesting the decision as they fear a downfall in the number of tourists. -- PTI

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