Shillong, May 29: Tourism minister Paul Lyngdoh has asserted that the state has a robust ecosystem, which is corroborated by the growing tourist footfall in Sohra region.
Responding to a query on safety of tourists, in the wake of a newlywed couple from Madhya Pradesh going missing during their honeymoon trip in Sohra, the minister said all hotels, resorts and homestays in the region are packed to their capacity due to the increased footfall.
Terming the incident as unfortunate, he said, “We in the department cannot actually police every single inch of tourist destinations.”
Stating that local guides are available to cater to tourists visiting destinations like living root bridges, Lyngdoh said, “But suppose somebody decides to venture beyond what is safe, what would be the role of the government?”
Referring to the massive search and rescue operation under way by the authorities as well as local communities, and supervised by the chief minister, he said, “We have pressed into service all possible rescue operations.”
Refuting a reported allegation from the husband’s brother about the “slow operation”, Lyngdoh said, “…you have to realise that Meghalaya has a challenging topography and terrain. It is nothing like in the plains of India…. we even have villages which are not reachable… our ancestors could not cross from one village to the other… so they came up with living root bridges.”
The minister, meanwhile, assured to make sure that any travel plans to Meghalaya should be free of risk of disaster.
“…keep this in mind that in Meghalaya, tourism is a community-based activity… we (government) own very few of the destinations… all of these destinations are owned by either private individuals or local communities, but the government is there to support,” he said.
