Chattisgarh Tourism allays Naxalite fears

Kolkata: The Chattisgarh Tourism Board, which is participating in the Travel and Tourism Fair in the city, today dispelled fears of Naxalite violence affecting tourism in the state. “The Naxalite attacks are taking place in areas which are far off from the tourist sites being promoted by the state government and most of them are political in nature,” the general manager of the board, P Sen Bhowmick, said in Kolkata.[caption id=“attachment_932857” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Scene of Maoists massacre. PTI[/caption] Referring to the recent massacre of Congress leaders by the left-wing extremists, Bhowmick said that tourists willing to visit the state need not be scared of these incidents. The tourist spots developed by the government are at a far distance from the corridors in which these extremists operate, he assures. The state government in a conscious move did not develop any tourist spot in the Naxalite corridors which are situated in deep forests and tourists need not go there, he explained. The tourist destinations were also highly protected with guards and officials conduct regular visits to these areas, he said. Sen said that last year there were two lakh inbound tourists to Chhattisgarh and expressed confidence that the number would increase by 15 percent this year. PTI