Polluted Digha still a hot spot

1 January 2012

biswabrata goswami
DIGHA, 1 JAN: Digha has turned out to be the hottest spot in state for tourists who are in mood to celebrate. This popular sea resort, located 180 kilometres from Kolkata, is now bustling with party hoppers celebrating the New Year.
The number of domestic tourists have outnumbered their international counterparts. Despite pollution and exorbitant hotel rates, the flow of tourists is on the rise. The calm and serene environs are luring a lot of tourists to Mandarmoni and Shankarpur beaches too.
Room rents at hotels were abnormally high with the owners taking advantage of the huge demand. Desperate for a break, many came here without booking hotels or lodges and were compelled to stay on the outskirts of Digha.  As per statistics, in the past five years, the tourist inflow in West Bengal has increased by 7.2 per cent whereas the national figure stands at 5.6 per cent. About 65 lakh tourists used to visit the state five years ago, but the figure now has increased to 145 lakh.
In Digha the tourists inflow has increased from 8 lakh to 32 lakh, during this period. “Compared to the last two years, this year, tourist inflow increased abnormally, especially after the former rail minister Miss Mamata Banerjee introduced direct rail services here,” said a hotel owner.
However, the Digha-Shankarpur Development Authority has not  taken any initiative to provide better services to the tourists. The police too have failed to take any step against the hotel owners who neither provide space for car-parking nor security for tourists in their hotels.
With the rise in tourist  flow, the pollution level has also risen. Digha, which was once called the “Brighton of the East”, has turned into a garbage dump, with plastic and litter everywhere.
The famous casuarinas forest off Digha coast has lost its charm. The sewage system here has been a problem for many years. But, owing to the unavailability of funds, the sewage system has not been upgraded. Despite these problems, Digha remains the favourite weekend destination for the state populace.
The Digha Science Centre, one of the satellite units of the National Council of Science Museums, Union ministry of culture, have recently opened two new galleries ~ Fun Science and Reflection ~ which will not only attract tourists but also teach science to visitors, particularly to the students through a fun-filled  interactive session.
Published at The Statesman.