Beaches wear a deserted look

• Tourist inflow down by 80%

Malpe/Kaup/Surathkal: Due to the massive floods and landslides in Kerala and Kodagu, the number of tourists visiting Karavali has substantially decreased. Malpe beach which is filled with tourists even during the rainy season, which attracts localites and tourists from the state as well as from other states, is currently devoid of any visitors with a decline of up to 80% in the number of tourists visiting it. Due to the rains and strong winds, even localites are apprehensive to visit the beach. Normally, even during the rainy season, there are more than 2,000 visitors. But, previous Sunday, only 100-500 visitors were witnessed loitering on the beach.

To the many tourist destinations in Karavali including Malpe beach, St. Mary’s island, Maravanthe, Murudeshwar and others, the most number of tourists visiting them are from Kerala state. 50% of the tourists visiting Malpe beach and St. Mary’s islands are students from Kerala. It is being said that no tourists are expected from Kerala for another few months.

Shops have closed

Hotel, lodge and other business have felt the heat of the situation. Due to lack of business, most of the shops on the beach have pulled down their shutters. 70-70 shops in the beach vicinity have closed. Only a very few small shops pull up their shutters in the evening looking forward to tourists. Since the last 10-12 days, doing a daily business of even Rs. 200-300 seems to be very difficult for small shacks. The situation is the same even at Panambur and Tannirbavi beach. Only localites have been observed to be visiting the beach for some air.

Desolate Sea Walk

Fearing floods, no one is accessing the sea walk. When the sea walk was opened to the public, a sea of people could be seen on it daily. Though there is a travel ban to St. Mary’s island during the monsoons season, even then there used to be a good density of people on the sea walk. But now it is desolate.

Fear of floods

The floods and landslides along the Shiradi, Sampaje, Kudhremukh, Charmadi Ghats have scared the tourists because of which tourists from Ghat regions have turned their faces away from Karavali region.

Empty Kaup beach

Kaup beach, which attracts hundreds of tourists nationally and internationally, wears a deserted look. Since it was Bakrid, there was an expectation for an increase in the tourist flow. But there is hardly anybody here. This has hit us badly, we who completely depend on tourists, says Chandrashekar, who runs a fast food business on the beach.

Since the last two weeks

“The number of tourists visiting the beach has grown very thin. Since a week, tourists visiting from far-off places have completely stopped. The beaches which were overflowing daily with fun and laughter now eagerly wait for a solitary visitor,” says Suresh Kunder, a local.