Patna. A ship repair center will be set up at a cost of Rs 300 crore in Digha area on the banks of River Ganges in Patna. Its path has been paved after its announcement in the Union Budget. The state government has also allotted five acres of land on the banks of Ganga in front of Kurji in Digha for this. After the construction of the centre, the number of ships plying through waterways for freight and tourism purposes will increase and transportation costs will reduce.
Ships will arrive even from far away places
At present the ships have to be taken to Kolkata or Varanasi for repairs. After the facility is available in Patna, now along with local ships, ships coming from far away places will also be repaired here. This will save thousands of rupees in transportation expenses incurred in shipping to Kolkata or Varanasi and back. Besides, the opening of the center will also provide direct and indirect employment opportunities to thousands of people.
repairing four ships at once
This new center will have the facility to repair four ships at a time. Lift system will be installed for this. The ship will be lifted from the river Ganga by a lift and placed in an open place, then repaired and after the completion of the work, it will be refloated.
New opportunities for employment and operations
At present, about 50-60 small and big ships run in Ganga, which operate from Bihar to Uttar Pradesh and Bengal. Due to lack of repair center in Patna, government departments and private people showed less interest in ship operations. After the opening of the centre, the transport and tourism departments can increase ship operations and private companies can also operate ships for freight transportation and tourism.