Delhi has a new way to see its oldest river. The capital’s first recreational cruise service on the Yamuna, named the Namo Yamuna River Safari, was inaugurated on Tuesday at Sonia Vihar, opening a stretch of the river that has long been more talked about than visited.
Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal launched the service in the presence of Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu. After the ceremony, the minister and the chief minister took a ride on the new vessel themselves, a gesture meant to signal that the river is ready for the public again.
The service runs a 30-seater electric-powered cruise along an approximately six-kilometre round trip between Sonia Vihar and Jagatpur. The vessel is quiet and emission-free, a deliberate choice for a river whose revival has become a political and environmental priority in the capital.
For Delhi, the launch is as much about symbolism as it is about tourism. The Yamuna has been designated National Waterway-110 under the National Waterways Act, 2016, and the cruise is the first attempt to turn that designation into something residents can actually experience. The project is spearheaded by the Inland Waterways Authority of India, working with the Delhi Development Authority, Delhi Tourism, the Delhi Jal Board and the Irrigation and Flood Control Department.
The timing is no accident. The service has been launched just days ahead of Chhath Puja, when lakhs of devotees gather at the Yamuna’s ghats. The Chief Minister has described the initiative as a reflection of the people’s devotion towards Maa Yamuna, and officials hope the cruise will give the festival season a new attraction.
What the cruise will cost, and how often it will run, has not yet been announced. The official release speaks of a recreational and eco-tourism experience rather than a commuter service, and passengers should look for booking and timetable details from the authorities in the coming days rather than assume a daily schedule.
The project has been in the works since March 2025, when the Inland Waterways Authority signed an agreement with Delhi government agencies to develop cruise tourism on the Sonia Vihar-Jagatpur stretch. The launch now turns that paperwork into a boat on the water.
If the service finds its footing, it could do for the Yamuna what riverfront projects have done in other Indian cities: give people a reason to return to a river they had written off. For now, Delhi has its first cruise, and the river has its first passengers in a very long time.
