Govt urged to set up tourist police cell

As the Government is all set to open tourist police cells at the eight places in the State, the district police urged for a cell at the Bhitarkanika National park to provide safety and security to the tourists.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has already sanctioned eight tourist police cells (TPC) and they will shortly be operational.The eight TPC will be at Puri sea beach, Chandrabhaga, Satapada, lingaraj temple, Nandanakanan, Dhauli , Gopalpur and Chandipur police stations. The special cell will be opened on experimental basis in the first phase. 

Each cell will have a sub-inspector, assistant sub-inspector and 8-10 policemen who will be appointed by the Home Department. These officers will be having special dress code different from usual khaki dress. Special training in dealing with tourists will be imparted to these police officers. In order to assist the tourists effectively, TPC personnel will use mobile phones and other ultramodern gadgets. There is a plan to expand the TPC to other tourist importance.

As many as 50,513 tourists, including foreigners, paid a visit to witness the splendour of Bhitarkanika from January 2014 to  December 2014. But due to lack of security measures, most of the time in past the tourists faced hooliganism, vandalism and alcoholism  at the national park. During the peak tourist season, only one fourth of police personnel were deployed.