Kerala   

Development pangs on Varkala beach

—Photo: S. Mahinsha

Dog’s own country: Stray dogs roaming freely atop the cliff at the Varkala Beach resort.

Varkala: With hardly 10 days left for the first chartered flight with tourists to arrive in the State, the plethora of problems faced by them at the ‘must-see’ beach are yet to be addressed.

Tourists from France have arrived in large numbers for the peak tourist season in the less crowded destination, although the beach is yet to set in after the monsoons. Tourists are heading for the small pocket beach, Black beach, at Thiruvambadi.

The problems faced by the tourism authorities at Kovalam have begun to surface at Varkala too with the influx of tourists. Unauthorised construction, mushrooming of hotels, restaurants, pestering of tourists by hawkers and beggars, stray dog menace, cheating by traders, harassment by local people and anti-social elements are the problems hounding the authorities.

The walk from the helipad to Malappamkodi, atop the cliff, has turned risky for the tourists. Fissures have developed at many places on the laterite cliff. Only a small portion of the fence along the 300-metre stretch of revenue land near the helipad now remains. The three make-shift paths from the cliff top to the beach have become out of bounds for the tourists and they are forced to take a circuitous route.

The three-metre walkway from Papanasam to Kappil built by Kerala Tourism at a cost of Rs.1 crore is damaged at many places. The lack of fencing along the precipitous 80-ft high laterite cliff and boulders jutting from the cliff face are what greet the sun-seeking travellers. Hotels have put up display boards, blocking the pathway.

At many places atop the cliff, hoteliers and shop owners have erected temporary fences by tying ropes and placing tables to prevent the tourists from slipping down the cliff.

Hawkers have arrived in large numbers at Varkala. Children from Karnataka and beggars too have landed at the beach.

All available space along the two kilometre stretch from the helipad end to Madan Nada along the cliff top have been taken up by restaurants, telephone booths, handicrafts shops and business establishments.

Only temporary structures can be set up two metres away from the pathway bordering the cliff. Many have converted the temporary structures erected last year into buildings during the monsoon violating the CRZ norms.

Jason Farrell, a former teacher from Canada who has been holidaying at Varkala for the past four months, said the biggest problem was the lack of planning and effective monitoring by the authorities and the lack of standard.

The stakeholders of the industry blame the municipal corporation for not providing the basic infrastructureA senior tourism official said instructions had been given to the District Tourism Promotion Council to repair the lights at the resort before November.

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