HUBBALLI: Come December, the beaches of Uttara Kannada district will have an added attraction. In a bid to boost adventure tourism in Karnataka, the district administration will soon open the Netrani Islands for underwater activities such as snorkelling and scuba diving.
Netrani island is located 18 km off Murudesharwa and is abundant in corals and coral-dependent fish which are a feast for divers.As the corals are located at a depth of a few meters, the water around the island is best suited for scuba diving. The island also has nests of rare edible swiftlets and endangered white-bellied sea eagles.
There are only select locations in India where scuba diving is organised. After Goa, Andamans and Nicobar islands and Lakshadweep, Uttara Kannada will be the newest destination in the country for scuba diving. The sport attracts large numbers of tourists, especially foreigners. It is said that District Minister R V Deshpande was keen on seeing the project through.
A senior official from the Uttara Kannada district administration told Express three companies — two from Goa and one from Karnataka — have been shortlisted for the contract to conduct scuba diving activities at Netrani Islands and by next month a company will be awarded the contract.
“All the three companies are internationally certified to conduct scuba diving. By early December, we will hand over the work contract to the company which wins the final tender. Till 2012, scuba diving was conducted by some interested groups from Goa and Karnataka, but it was not legalised. Earlier, the operators used to charge `1,500-`2,000 per person for diving, which also included training in a swimming pool and ferrying them in a boat to the island. For now, we can make use of swimming pools available at RNS Hotel in Murudeshwara,” the official said.
The Indian Navy, which has a large naval base in Karwar, uses the Netrani islands for target practice. Since 2006, environmentalists in the state, especially from Karwar, are fighting to save the rare bio-diversity of the islands and in the waters.
“It’s clear that the Navy has no hold on the island. As per the Revenue Department’s records, the island belongs to the state government and it was never given to the Navy during handing-over of land and sea shore for Project Sea Bird,” said the official.