Port Blair, Sept 02: The Member of Parliament of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Mr. Kuldeep Rai Sharma has requested the Chief Secretary of Andaman and Nicobar Administration to reopen tourism in Wandoor and New Wandoor, which will open up employment opportunities for thousands of people and also give a much needed boost to Tourism industry of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
He has also requested you to provide double safety netting at the existing swimming area of New Wandoor beach for the safety of local residents and tourists, so that more and more people visit the beach.
He said that the swimming prohibition is one of the main reasons why even local people stopped visiting Wandoor beach.
In a letter addressed to the Chief Secretary, Andaman and Nicobar Administration, the Member of Parliament pointed out that On November 14, 2017, a crocodile had attacked a youth at New Wandoor beach while swimming. The accident occured due to damaged netting of a safe swimming area, created at New Wandoor beach for tourists and local visitors.
He mentioned that since that day swimming was prohibited in the beach, as a result slowly tourists stopped visiting the beach and subsequently due to COVID-19 restrictions, tourism activities stopped at Wandoor and New Wandoor beach areas permanently.
The Member of Parliament added that because of the closure of Wandoor beach, since the last three years hardly any tourist has visited the beach, which has broken the backbone of the local economy of the area as roughly 30 percent of people in Wandoor area were directly or indirectly dependent on Tourism.
He mentioned that the petty shop owners at Wandoor beach,New Wandoor jetty area, Hasmatabad, Myamiyo region were largely dependent on tourism for their daily bread. Other than this coconut sellers, hawkers, small dinghy owners, tourist vehicle owners/ drivers have also suffered heavy loss for this closure.
Considering the hardship being faced by tourism stakeholders and other people of Wandoor region, the Member of Parliament has requested the Chief Secretary to reopen tourism in Wandoor and New Wandoor beach areas.
The Member of Parliament further added that Tourist season has begun in Andaman from this month (September 2022) and if early necessary steps are taken in this regard then a lot of people will get employment in Wandoor beach,New Wandoor jetty area, Hasmatabad and Myamiyo areas.
