At Least 12 Islands In Lakshadweep, Off Limits To Public Till Now, To Be Opened Up For Tourism

The government has approved a plan to open up at least 12 islands in the Lakshadweep archipelago off India’s west coast, Times of India has reported.

Off limits to the public till now, these islands will soon be opened to give a boost to niche tourism in Lakshadweep, the daily’s report says. Restricted Area Permit, which is required to visit these islands, will be relaxed. This development comes after the government relaxed the Restricted Area Permit regime for some areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim for foreign tourists earlier this year.

The islands which will be opened up include Minicoy, Bangaram, Suheli, Cherium, Tinnakara, Kalpeni, Kadmat, Agatti, Chetlat and Bitra. The nearest of these, Kalpeni, is around 280 kilometers away from Kochi.

“Since Lakshadweep is an ecologically sensitive area, great care has been taken in planning the measures,” Director of tourism in Lakshadweep Balram Meena has said, dressing concerns on ecological damage.

“Lakshadweep has immense potential for growth, but we have observed that over the years, tourist influx has somewhat stagnated. Current effort is not only to ramp up tourism, but to also open up the island cluster to public, private and public-private partnership mode of investments to create more employment for Lakshadweep islanders,” Meena was quoted by the Times of India as saying.