New Delhi: In a far-reaching move to make the holy river Ganga pollution-free, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday dedicated to the nation 500 boats converted to run on environment-friendly Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) from petrol and diesel in Varanasi.

These CNG-run boats are being supplied CNG from India's first floating CNG station built by GAIL (India) Limited at Namo Ghat in Varanasi.

The conversion of the boats running on petrol or diesel to run on CNG also was carried out under GAIL's Corporate Social Responsibility initiative in association with Varanasi Nagar Nigam (VNN). VNN appointed Varanasi Smart City as coordinator of the project while Mecon Limited is providing engineering and consultancy services for the conversion of the boats to run on CNG.

Many of the boats present across the various ghats of river Ganga are used by tourists when they visit the holy city Varanasi. However, leakage and exhaust from conventional fuels is a major concern which affects the water quality and marine life of the river Ganga.

Conversion to CNG will not only reduce pollution but the resultant savings on fuel will lead to better economic conditions for boatmen.

While 500 boats have been converted to CNG so far, work is going on at a fast pace to convert the other boats to clean fuel too.

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