THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Tourism police aid centres will be fully functional at key tourists destinations in the state by June 15, said State Police Chief Loknath Behera. The decision has been taken to ensure the safety of the tourists arriving in Kerala. Though the country’s maiden tourism police station had come up in Kerala in 2010, the initiative is yet to cover several tourist hotspots in the state. More officers will be given adequate training so they can be deployed in newly set up centres. New women civil police officers who have completed training will be also roped in to fill the vacuum, he said.
The police have intensified its efforts to ramp up security in places frequented by domestic and foreign tourists after the murder of a Latvian woman near Kovalam in March. The service and cooperation of various stakeholders like local self-government institutions, hotels, taxi and autorickshaw drivers will be sought for enhancing the safety of the visitors. However, special instruction has been given to the officials not to violate the privacy of the tourists.
The mainstay of the department’s move to ensure foolproof security at tourist destinations will be the installation of cameras. After the Latvian woman went missing from Kovalam, it was discovered there was a big dearth of surveillance cameras in the beach area thronged by hundreds of tourists daily. “Cameras will be installed with the help of local self-government bodies and Tourism Department. They won’t be placed in such a way that the privacy of the tourists will be breached,” mentioned the police chief’s handout.
The police will clamp down on illegal hotels and Yoga-Ayurveda centres operating in tourist places. Those who are operating with a valid licence will have to submit the details of the occupants on a daily basis. However, the police inspections at hotels and Ayurveda centres will be carried out without causing any discomfort to the tourists.
It has also been decided to weed out illegally operating commercial establishments from the vicinity of the tourist places. The street vendors who want to legalise their business should register their names with the police stations concerned using identity cards. The police will request the Tourism Department to make uniforms mandatory for the registered street vendors.
In police stations located in major centres, officers with multilingual skills will be posted. The uniform of tourism police will be changed to Khaki and the officers will be authorised to launch raids in case they come across leads pointing to sale of narcotics. The officers will also be given classes to improve their conversation skills. The police will also launch a mobile app to improve their interface with the tourists and serve them better.