Tag: tourists

Lakshadweep

Tourists Visiting Lakshadweep Praise Hospitality

By LokMarg

Tourists coming in to explore Lakshadweep’s Agatti Island say that the Lagoon beach, one of the popular beaches on the island, is clean and pristine but say that the Island needs to improve on some of its facilities and popularise it so that it turns into a global tourism destination. However, one of the tourists said that for them the Agatti island is none less than Maldives.

One of the tourists who has come to visit the Lagoon beach as part of a cruise said that for them beach is none less than Maldives and they will not get enough time to explore the island in just a few hours.

“We are here for just 3-4 hours. I think time will get short for us to explore the beauty of this island. This is none less than Maldives for us. We are enjoying a lot,” a tourist named Olivia who has come to Lagoon Beach from Kolkata said, speaking to ANI on Wednesday.

Another tourist said that though the beach is neatly maintained, there is a need for Lakshadweep to be made into a popular tourism destination so that it leads to employment opportunities for the island and its population.

“The beach is fine and neatly maintained. More propaganda is needed for Lakshadweep. Andaman is more popular, but Lakshadweep is not. When we were talking to drivers they were telling us that leaving behind tourism there is nothing else. If tourism is improved their livelihood will also improve,” he said speaking to ANI.

Another tourist said that though the beach is environmentally friendly, the authorities need to work on advertising so that more people can visit. She also added that there may be some recreational facilities on the island so that it can attract people.

“It is a nice place to visit. There is no pollution and it is very environmentally friendly. But more information should be passed on so that others can also come and visit the place. More facilities should be there like some huts and recreational centres so that people can come here, explore and tell other people,” she said, speaking to ANI.

Another tourist who is from Maharashtra appealed to others to come and visit Agatti Island and suggested to come in groups.

“This beach is beautiful and clean…We have come on a cruise. We appeal to everyone to come here more often, in groups if convenient.” he said speaking to ANI.

Locals at Agatti Island expect more development on the island. They said they are not against the development of tourism, but the administration needs to take their demands and problems into consideration.

The locals complained about the lack of hospital facilities and said that they have to take patients to Kochi for treatment. The island has primary health centres but locals want multi-speciality hospitals on the island. They demanded development of road infrastructure and other facilities as well.

Interest in Lakshadweep peaked when Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 2 visited the Union Territory of Lakshadweep and shared several pictures, including an ‘exhilarating experience’ of him trying his hand at snorkelling.

Soon, in a post that has now been deleted, the Maldivian Deputy Minister of Youth Empowerment, Mariyam Shiuna, made a mocking and disrespectful reference to PM Modi.

Indians, including cricketers and film celebrities, have since come out in open support in promoting local beach destinations and other tourist spots. They also voiced support for PM Modi’s call for promoting beach tourism in Lakshadweep.

The Maldives government has, however, distanced itself from the remarks made by its ministers. Maldivian Minister of Foreign Affairs Moosa Zameer said that these remarks against foreign leaders are “unacceptable” and do not reflect the official position of the Maldives government. (ANI)

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Shimla

Tourists Throng Shimla Ahead Of Year-End Festivities

By LokMarg

The police in Shimla district said they were anticipating a huge rush of visitors ahead of Christmas and the year-end festivities.

Police said they were expecting over one lakh tourist vehicles to roll into the hill town in the last week of December, on the eve of Christmas and New Year.

The Mayor of Shimla City has planned the first-ever winter carnival to draw tourists to the state for the year-end festivities and frolicking while also promoting the traditions and culture of Himachal Pradesh.

Tourists have already started arriving in the hilly state in numbers in anticipation of snowfall in the exotic locales as the year draws to a close.

Speaking to ANI, Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi, Superintendent of Police (SP) of Shimla, said, “The police are expecting over one lakh tourist vehicles to roll into the hill town in the last week of this year.”

“Police brace for myriad challenges as the seasons change in Shimla. The number of vehicles in the city has been increasing on weekends. We will serve as facilitators for the tourists, those involved in the hospitality business and other stakeholders. We will hold meetings with all the stakeholders. Roads laden with snow are also a big challenge for us in winter. We have divided the city into five sectors, each of which will be assigned a rescue team,” Gandhi added.

“There is a steady increase in tourist vehicles. There is a particular number of vehicles entering the city from the Shogi Barrier. There are usually about 5,000 to 6,000 vehicles rolling into the city every day. However, the count has now gone up to 12000 to 13000 ahead of the year-end festivities. We expect this number to rise further to 20,000 around Christmas and the New Year,” SP Gandhi added.

“We have planned to deploy 10 platoons, which would further enable us to press 200 additional forces into action if required. The additional personnel would be deployed for both traffic management and security,” Gandhi said.

The week-long winter carnival will start on Christmas Day, December 25, in the afternoon. The Shimla Municipal Corporation is hopeful of a revival of tourism businesses here. The mayor is also keen to send across a message of clean and green tourism in the hills through the carnival.

“We are planning a winter carnival for the first time in Shimla. I have been conducting meetings with the stakeholders and officials over the past three days. We are ready to showcase our traditional folk dance forms and musical instruments. The chief minister will inaugurate the week-long winter carnival on December 25. We will also organise a traditional folk dance featuring 500 women,” Surinder Chauhan, the mayor of Shimla, said.

The tourists, meanwhile, are enjoying the cold weather conditions and snowfall in the city.

“There is a huge tourist rush. There’s a biting cold but the weather gets more pleasant as the sun breaks through the clouds. We are enjoying ourselves here. Tourists can barely hold off an urge to visit Shimla around Christmas and New Year. I would recommend a visit to Shimla at this time. We were expecting some snowfall but there hasn’t been any yet. I have decided to visit Shimla again in January, next year. We will schedule our travel after following the weather forecast as we don’t want to miss out on the snowfall next time,” Soutirtha Biswas, a tourist from West Bengal, said.

He was one among many visitors, who, while enjoying the prevailing pleasant weather in the hill-state, rued not to have experienced any snowfall yet.

“It has been a very good experience so far. I expected the weather to be this cold. I hoped to experience some snowfall as well around this time but there hasn’t been any since I arrived. This is an ideal tourism destination in December,” Ankit, a tourist from Bihar, told ANI. (ANI)

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Modi Replaced Stones With Computers, Jobs: Shah In J-K

By LokMarg

Highlighting the Modi government’s development push in Jammu and Kashmir, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday that the Centre had given computers and employment to youth who earlier held stones in their hands.

The Union home minister, who launched development projects of around Rs 1,960 crore in Jammu, was referring to past incidents of stone-pelting which would be frequently reported from the valley.
“After the abrogation of Article 370, people in J-K got benefits from various government schemes. Democracy is strengthened when people welcome the change. It is important to identify the three families of J-K which nurtured separatism instead of development,” Shah said.

He said the central government gave computers and employment to the youth who earlier held stones in their hands.

“Earlier there were stone-pelting incidents. But, no such incidents are there now. We have to understand the change that has come now. We identified those in the administration who were supporting terrorism and rooted them out. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken out ‘Jamhooriyat’ (democracy) from three families in Jammu and Kashmir and has taken it to the people through 30,000 Panchayati raj members,” said Shah.

In the 70 years since independence, the Home Minister said only Rs 15,000 crore were invested in Jammu and Kashmir, but since 2019, an investment of about Rs 56,000 crore has been brought in the erstwhile state.

Shah further said that the youth of J-K will benefit greatly from tourism. He said 50 lakh tourists have visited Jammu and 22 lakh tourists have visited Kashmir in recent months.

“Earlier the delimitation was done only for the benefit of three families. For the first time post Independence, there has been a real delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir now, due to which the people of the hilly region have got their rights,” Shah added.

Shah, who is on a 3-day visit to J-K, reached Jammu Monday evening after which he met people from various communities including Gujjar-Bakarwal, Rajput, Pahari, and Sikhs.

He began his day on Tuesday with a visit to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Katra where he offered prayers. Notably, this was Shah’s first visit to the holy shrine after being appointed the Home Minister of the Modi government 2.0.

His visit, during which he was accompanied by Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Union Minister Jitendra Singh, coincided with the ninth day of the ongoing Navratri festival.

Shah is slated to hold a number of crucial meetings including the ones regarding the security situation in the region on Wednesday. He will review the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir at a meeting that is slated to be held at Raj Bhavan in Srinagar.

LG Manoj Sinha, top officials of the Army, paramilitary forces, state police, and civil administration will take part in this high-level meeting expected to begin at 10 am tomorrow.

Before concluding his visit to the Union Territory, Shah will also launch and lay foundation stones for various development projects in Srinagar tomorrow afternoon. (ANI)

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