MoT asks states to extend polythene-ban range; 24 railway stations to get tourist help desks
With a view to improve cleanliness at monuments, Union Tourism Ministry has written to state governments asking them to help extend the ban on polythene beyond the radius of 100 metres to 300 metres around the centrally protected archaeological sites. On October 2, the government had announced a complete ban on polythene in the radius of 100 metres around over 3,680 monuments which are under the jurisdiction of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Meanwhile in another measure, the railways is setting up Railway Protection Force (RPF) Tourist Help Desk at 24 stations including Agra, Tirupati, Ayodhya, Varanasi and Puri. “The help desk will be manned by trained RPF personnel round the clock. They will assist and guide passengers in getting transportation, hotels and other required information related to the area,” said a senior railway official.
The area between 100 to 300 metres around the monuments, which is called regulated zone, falls under the jurisdiction of the state governments.
“We have issued advisory to all state governments/UTs to help in extending the polythene-free initiative beyond the 100 metre radius to 300 metre around the protected monuments,” said Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma.
The help desk is being set up in close co-ordination with state police at 24 stations which have high tourist footfall. The cases of fleecing of tourists at the hands of unscrupulous elements at railway stations are believed to be a regular activity and the RPF help desk is expected to act as a deterrent against touts.
Railway stations at Amritsar, Thiruvanathapuram, Gaya, Rae Bareli and Agra are being taken up at the first phase and other stations such as Haridwar, Varanasi, Ayodhya, Allahabad, Dwarka, Howrah, Kamakhya and Tirupati will be taken up in the next phase. The plan is to cover all major stations with such tourist-friendly facility across the country in a phase-wise manner, the official said.
Trains passing through sensitive areas like Naxal-infested and terrorism-affected regions are being escorted by RPF and GRP across the country. “Safety and security of passengers are of paramount importance for railways and RPF is trying to do its role sincerely,” said Rajan Bhagat, DG, RPF.
RPF, which has about 66,000 personnel, is currently escorting about 2,500 trains. “Our target is to cover all trains in due course and for that we are training more personnel. We will increase the number of escorted trains to 3,000 from 2,500 shortly,” added Bhagat. Besides escorting trains, RPF is also responsible for protection of rail properties.
The tourism ministry also plans to bring in some laws to impose strict implementation of the polythene-free initiative in the areas which are under the jurisdiction of ASI. An official said that the initiative will be reviewed after a month to decide whether there is any need to impose fines on offenders.
Sharma also announced sanctioning of INR 350 crore to provide facilities like protected boundaries, toilets and disabled friendly access in all the ASI monuments. He also said that 75 monuments, including Safdarjung Tomb and Purana Qila in Delhi and Agra Fort and Akbar’s Tomb in Uttar Pradesh have been added to the list of existing 25 monuments under Adarsh Smarak Scheme for upgradation of tourist related amenities.
These monuments are also covered under ‘Swachh Paryatan Mobile App’ through which general public can communicate their complaints about any unclean area or garbage piles in and around the tourist destination.
(PTI)
