Patna: The MV Ganga Vihar and MV Kautilya Vihar, popularly known as floating restaurants as Patnaites would board the sailing vessels for midstream picnics, have moored to the quay at the Gaighat ever since the Ganga swelled this monsoon.The Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC), which runs the two vessels, has incurred a loss of around Rs 4 lakh during the last 20 days. For, the two vessels, when operational, were the third highest revenue generating units of the state tourism department."They are not operating due to high velocity of the current in the river these days," BSTDC public relations officer Gajendra Singh said on Thursday.The threat posed by the river current apart, experts also caution against plying such vessels in waters filled with litters. "Plants and tree branches besides other waste materials are a common sight in rivers during floods. If any of them sticks to the wheels of the vessel, it gets immobilised and may get flown away by the fast current," Singh said, explaining why the corporation decided to stop operating the vessels.The MV Ganga Vihar accommodates 75 passengers while the MV Kautilya Vihar has 30 seats. A passenger is charged Rs 120 for every hourlong trip aboard the MV Ganga Vihar on weekdays and Rs 170 on weekends when the excursion package includes the 'Ganga Aarti'.The fare for the MV Kautilya Vihar is Rs 100 on weekdays and Rs 170 on weekends.Each vessel usually goes for two trips every day. "But depending on the sale of tickets, they go for three trips each on weekends," Singh said.The scheduled daily trips apart, the vessels are also booked for private parties to mark occasions such as birthdays and engagements. Such a private booking for an hour costs Rs 4,000.Sources said the 'Ganga Aarti' has also been discontinued since last weekend for the same reason. The 'aarti' is performed at the steps at Gandhi Ghat near the NIT campus, but the floodwaters last week inundated the entire area.Thankfully for the BSTDC, it does not have to pay the five priests who perform the 'aarti'. "It was the corporation which sponsored their training in Varanasi to perform the 'aarti', but they are paid at the rate of per 'aarti'," another BSTDC official said, adding while the head priest gets Rs 1,200, the remaining four priests are paid Rs 700 per 'aarti'. They have one helper each, who are paid Rs 300 per 'aarti'.While Singh could not say when the vessels would resume operations, the sources said even the iron bridge used by passengers to reach the vessels from the ghat, has been destroyed by the floodwaters.

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