Mrs Morrison, a tourist from the US, was delighted to visit Vikramshila, the land of Buddhist scholar Atish Dipankar Srigyan, but she was very upset after undertaking the tedious journey.

She could not visit Sultanganj on November 10 as the R.V. Bengal Ganga, the cruise vessel by which she came here, could not proceed to Munger due to the low water level of the Ganga.

Tour manager John Gomes said: “We had five tourists, mostly aged, who came to visit places of historical or religious importance. The tourists were scheduled to visit Sultanganj and Munger but due to the low water level, the tourists went to Bodhgaya on November10.”

According to him, the low water level and an under-construction bridge at Aguwani in Sultanganj could put a hurdle on the movement of the cruise. The R.V. Bengal Ganga returned to Calcutta with no tourists as the booking of tourists who were scheduled to board it from Bhagalpur from Gaya was postponed.

The tourists who were scheduled to visit Vikramshila cancelled their programme at the last hour because of bad roads and lack of any tourist facility at the half-excavated ruins of Vikramshila university. The five tourists, including Mrs Morrison, were from America, South Africa and South Korea. They started their voyage from Calcutta on November 2 and reached Bhagalpur on November 8.

“R.V. Bengal Ganga is known for fine dining but due to the liquor ban in Bihar, foreign guests avoid trips to the state on riverways. Now we have to depend on tourists who are teetotallers,” grumbled Gomes.

Prasant Kumar, deputy director, Inland Waterways Authority of India, Sahebganj (the office was shifted last year from Bhagalpur to Sahebganj), however, said the main stream of the river has not yet posed a threat to vessels.

“At some places like Bhagalpur, the river has shifted but the main stream has sufficient water for transportation. Dazing (silt removal) work has been going on to clear the path for cargo and cruise ships,” he said.

He, however, admitted that the reducing water level and subsequent shifting of the river’s course would hamper tourism prospects.

The R.V. Bengal Ganga sets out from Babughat in Calcutta and reaches Farakka (Bengal) via Chandernagore, Kalna, and Murshidabad. It enters the main stream of the Ganga in Jharkhand and via Rajmahal, Sahebganj, Kahalgaon, Bhagalpur, Sultanganj and Munger, reaches Patna.

Cargo vessels take the same route from Haldia.