Harshini Brahmavar
Pics: Umesh Marpalli
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Apr 14: Malpe happens to be one of the most preferred tourist destinations in the country. During summer season, tourists yearn to be near the sea to enjoy the cool water and also the sea breeze. There is always a considerable increase in the number of visitors to the beach during holiday season. After R Vishal came here as deputy commissioner of the district, in the capacity as the president of Malpe Beach Development Committee, he has executed works worth over two crore rupees to develop the tourist potential of this beach.

Now, preparations are on to give the tag of 'zero waste island' to St Mary's Island. Thereafter, plans are afoot to install eight CCTVs at various spots to keep an eye on activities of the visitors there.

Water sports festival is planned to be held here on April 17. During this festival, entertainment programmes, dances, beach sports etc will be organized. A sum of three lac rupees would be released for this purpose.

Two Pulsar motor bikes named 'Tourist Cheetah' will be provided by District Tourism Development Committee to the police to patrol Lord Srikrishna Math here and Malpe beach. A machine worth Rs 47 lac would be bought for cleaning Malpe beach. Boat jetty built at a cost of Rs 2.26 crore, interlock to the road at a cost of Rs 27 lac, ticket counter, tourist shelter etc are in the final stages, and will be inaugurated soon. Vishal said that the construction of a floating jetty near St Mary's Island would be undertaken shortly.

The other plans including rebuilding of old tile roof at a cost of Rs 10 lac, providing five new toilets, and 45 new pole lights. Discussions have been held in the committee to send proposal to consider grants for these works under 14th finance commission. Additional toilets at a cost of Rs 37 lac have been built at St Mary's Island, and protective wall costing ten lac rupees has been built near the beach.

Granite benches costing two lac rupees have been provided. 700 metres of interlock road has been laid by using funds of Rs 1.25 lac under Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Ltd. Helicopter service has been started to attract more tourists to the district. The helipad ground is just two km away from the town. The ground was earlier under the control of central NCC directorate.

St Mary's Island provides a panoramic glimpse into the grandeur of nature. The stones which look like rock formations carved out by humans were actually naturally created about 85 million years back when rhyolite lava flowed here. This area is home to some very rare geological rock formations. The archaeological department has categorized this area as a geological monument.

A visitor to this island is welcomed by heaps of waste, glass pieces and empty liquor bottles. Decent people coming here get a strange feeling at the behaviour of lover couples. Nirmiti Kendra has undertaken development works worth ten lac rupees at the island, it is said, although one does not come across such a development. People take liquor in boats, consume it at the island and create problems for the others. When life guards warn them against this behaviour, they are either threatened with the names of political leaders or in the form of assaults.

Many youngsters ignore warnings and try to do undertake adventures on slippery rocks here, and many have lost their lives. Undertaking search for people becomes a challenging task for the staff as the island is spread over 23 acres of land.

The development committee has decided to make all these a thing of the past. Staff have been employed under 'friends of tourist - Pravasi Mitra' scheme. Discussions have been held over banning use of plastic and imposing of penalty on those who violate this restriction. Supervisor of Malpe Beach Development Committee, Sudesh, hopes that problems will be brought under control and the beach here will move on the path of progress because of these steps.

The immediate needs at Malpe beach are ten gazebos for sheltering tourists, lighting, parking slot, amusement games, and luggage room.