In his first direct outreach to the famed boatmen of the Ganga at Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the country's first e-boats when he visits his constituency on Sunday. The idea is part of the plan to help reduce pollution in the congested heritage city. PM Modi will flag off a fleet of 11 e-boats on May 1 after an interaction at one of the Ganga ghats with boatmen from the nishad community and the target is to replace the traditional row boats in Varanasi with 3,000 medium-sized battery-operated boats within the span of a year.

The plan is to make it easier for boatmen to row who would only have to steer the boats run by batteries charged through solar power.

"The aim is to make it 100% green. Since the diesel engines will be done away with, the e-boats will generate no noise," said Sushanshu Mehta, who has developed the concept and whose foundation has initiated the project.