Port Blair, Feb 02: The Department of Tourism in co-ordination with Forest, other concerned departments and boat association has taken various steps in last few months to facilitate and to ensure the safety of large number of tourists visiting Baratang everyday.
A Tourist Help Desk has been established at Nilambur jetty which functions from 07:30 am to 03:30 pm to assist the tourists and provide them the tourist literature of the islands. To protect the tourists from any type of cheating, the rates of boats for tour to limestone caves have been displayed at the ticket counter. A single window is operating for issuing of tickets and a register of all the boats and no. of tourists carried by each boat is being maintained for proper records. Forest passes are being issued to the tourists only after submitting the duly filled in application form and producing their identity cards.
Equal attention is being paid to the safety of the tourists. Only prescribed no. of tourists are allowed to be carried by the each boat and tourists are permitted to board the vessel only after wearing life jackets. A proper platform has also been placed for boarding and deboarding the vessel. Two boats have been assigned as rescue boats one at Nilambur jetty and the other at entry point of lime stone caves. Four life guards have also been deployed in the area.
