Chandigarh News, In Morni Tikartal, incidents that compromise the safety of tourists for a few dollars are becoming common. Due to the negligence of the administration and lack of safety regulations, the lives of tourists are being put at risk. Their safety is being ignored by accommodating more people on the boats available in Tikartal than their capacity.
Once again serious questions are being raised about the Department of Tourism’s working style. According to the tender, the contractor was to provide IRS-certified vessels, which were to be inspected by the Department of Tourism. But even after several months, the department did not consider it appropriate to investigate these ships.
Under the terms of the tender, it was mandatory for IRS certified boats to be registered and insured to ensure the safety of tourists. According to sources, the contractor has started operating illegal vessels, ignoring safety regulations, some of which are not certified by the IRS. Due to this irregularity, the safety of tourists is in danger.
What is even more worrying is that senior officials of the Tourism Department including DDO, Company Secretary, AMD and MD are turning a blind eye to this matter. The department’s inaction and special favor shown to the contractor have raised the question of whether the department is adequately fulfilling its responsibilities.
Not only the security, but the contractor has also changed the old rates and imposed new and higher charges without departmental permission, which has directly affected the pockets of the tourists. These new rates are completely illegal and due to the negligence of the administration, an undue benefit is being given to the contractor.
The question that arises is: under what pressure or for what reason does the administration ignore all these irregularities? Will the tourism department wake up only after a serious accident? This situation is negatively affecting both the safety and confidence of tourists.
Some tourists said the boatmen charge them more money and still put more people on the boats than necessary. One tourist said: “The rates written on board are a burden on the pocket, but the real danger is that the ship becomes unsafe when overloaded.”
Despite this, why is the administration silent? Doesn’t the administration care about the safety of tourists? If any accident occurs in the future, who will be responsible? This question has been raised by both local citizens and tourists. Putting the lives of tourists at risk for a few dollars is not only irresponsible but also a serious administrative error.
The administration should immediately pay attention to this issue and implement strict rules to avoid any serious accidents in the future. The administration should take strict action on these issues and take effective measures to ensure the safety of tourists.
Silence of DDO Ashwini Kumar and negligence of administration
When DDO Ashwini Kumar was spoken to about this, he too did not give any satisfactory answer and dismissed it saying that he did not know anything about it and dismissed it by handing over the phone to someone else. This clearly shows how much attention the DDO pays to the activities taking place there. I also didn’t know which boats are insured, which boats are IRS certified, and how many tourists can sit on each boat. They didn’t even know when these ships were last inspected.
When the counter manning Morni Tikartal was asked to show the insurance and certification documents of the ships sailing there, he said that he did not have any documents and these documents could be at the Panchkula head office. Now the question arises, what do they do in Panchkula when the documents are not available at the workplace? Does the administration not have any certified documents? This clearly shows the connivance of Haryana Tourism.
The administration should take immediate measures in this situation and make public all related documents to ensure the safety of tourists.
