'Namo Yamuna River Safari' launched in Delhi in bid to boost tourism; 6-km cruise planned

Explained

On 10 November, Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta launched the Namo Yamuna River Safari, a recreational cruise service on the Yamuna River. According to the Times of India, the initiative is meant to promote eco-friendly tourism along the river and to give visitors recreational activities. The service includes a 6-km round-trip cruise.

What happened

The Times of India reported that Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and other officials spoke about the project at the launch, though that report was cut off before it described what they said. NDTV, publishing on 9 November, said the cruise service was set to begin the next day and described it as the first recreational cruise service on the Yamuna in Delhi. Newsable also reported on 9 November that a new recreational river cruise service would start the following day. Its piece was available only as a headline, so we have no further details from it.

NDTV said trial runs of the cruise vessel had already been carried out last month. Senior officials from the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and the Delhi government attended those trials, according to the report.

Why it matters

The reports frame the project as a tourism initiative. The Times of India describes its purpose as boosting tourism while keeping it eco-friendly. The service combines a boat ride along a river that runs through the capital with recreational activities for visitors. The involvement of the IWAI, a central body responsible for inland waterways, and the Delhi government suggests the project brings together both levels of government, though the reports do not spell out each agency's role.

What we don't know yet

The reports do not say how much the cruise costs, how visitors can book it, or how often it will run. They also do not give the full list of recreational activities on offer, or the exact remarks made by Sonowal and other officials at the launch. The Times of India's report was truncated, and Newsable's article was available only as a headline, so some details may be missing from this summary. The reports also describe the service under slightly different names: the Times of India uses "Namo Yamuna River Safari," while NDTV and Newsable refer to a recreational Yamuna River cruise service. They appear to describe the same project, but none of the reports says so explicitly.

Written by the 91News.in desk with AI assistance, based on reports from Times of India, NDTV, Newsable. Updated 10 Nov 2026, 10:05 pm. Spotted an error? Tell us.