As most boatmen were suffering as their livelihood was at stake during the complete lockdown, they expressed great relief and happiness over this development.

Gear up for a boat ride on Ganga again! Varanasi’s boat services resume after three months and your dream of taking a boat ride on Ganga is set to come true. Bringing relief for boatmen in the pilgrim city, boat services in Varanasi after three months for lockdown and curb in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. As most boatmen were suffering as their livelihood was at stake during the complete lockdown, they expressed great relief and happiness over this development. A boatman was quoted as saying that they are all “very happy today” to news agency ANI in the city expressing happiness on the resumption of work for their livelihood in the city. The boating services in the city resumed with the District Magistrate (DM) for Varanasi Kaushal Raj Sharma taking the first post-lockdown ride in the holy Ganges.

Reportedly, the Varanasi district administration has given relaxation in coronavirus restrictions to only those boatmen who have registered themselves on a smart city portal, which has been generated by the Varanasi Municipal Corporation.

A large chunk of the city’s population is dependent on incomes from boat services to feed their families and the resumption of the service will provide them an option to get out of the hardships they may have had to deal with due to the coronavirus outbreak and a subsequent phase of prolonged lockdown.

Notably, Varanasi is the Lok Sabha constituency for Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had announced a nationwide lockdown since the intervening night of March 24 and March 25. The announcement led to halting of all non-essential services including tourism, the sector which deals with these boat services in the country.

India has seen the number of coronavirus cases rising sharply since the lockdown was lifted and the central government along with state governments allowed almost all services to resume their activities since July 08. The number of coronavirus cases in the country has surpassed the 4.5 lakh-mark while the death toll due to the disease is in excess of 14,400-mark. Uttar Pradesh, as of today, has reported 18,893 cases of coronavirus and 588 deaths.