Why in news? 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

Highlights:

• 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.
• The MoU will facilitate modern ferry service on a ‘Hop On Hop Off’ among seven (07) historic religious sites around Guwahati. 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.

Significance:

• The ferry service is expected to reduce the overall travel time to less than 2 hours for completing one complete circuit.