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Cherrapunjee lacks amenities

By CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG, July 29 � Cherrapunjee, the wettest place on earth that attracts scores of tourists for its natural exotica, is a �third class tourist destination.�

�Cherrapunjee is a third class tourist destination. I feel tourists visiting Cherrapunjee are being cheated,� HT Sangliana, Vice-Chairman of the National Minority Commission, said after a visit to Cherrapunjee.

The former top cop said roads, infrastructure were all in deplorable condition. Moreover, it is devoid of any green cover and therefore tourists visiting the place is being shortchanged.

�The tourists are being cheated, they come for something and get nothing. There are no proper public toilets and very few hotels. The forest cover is gone,� Sangliana added.

Cherrapunjee that receives the highest rainfall on earth sits on a plateau that juts vertically 1,290 metres from the Bay of Bengal and has some breathtaking falls, caves and gorges. Only 60 km from Shillong, Cherrapunjee sadly has just 25 rooms for accommodation of tourists.

Denis Ryan, a hotelier in the area, says that jumping into a conclusion without going into the tourism history of the area would be wrong.

�The local people were averse to tourists visiting the area some years back. Many places of accommodation were destroyed by the locals as they didn�t like �outsiders� coming and staying in the area. This mindset is slowly changing,� Ryan said.

He admitted that the place has a lot of �catching up to do� as far as quality accommodation is concerned, but things are limping in the right direction.

He also blamed �vested interest� groups in Shillong that just don�t want Cherrapunjee to have the right facilities. �Cherrapunjee is way ahead of Shillong in terms of environment and beauty. Vested interest groups don�t want infrastructure to come up in Cherrapunjee because they fear they will lose their business,� he said.

Years back, the State government wanted to promote the bread and breakfast scheme. But the locals coldshouldered it as most didn�t want �outsiders� to stay in their homes.

Ryan meanwhile blamed the government�s unrealistic tourism policy on Cherrapunjee for the present condition. �The government unrealistically wants to charter foreigners into Cherrapunjee, without giving a thought that the bulk of the tourists visiting here are from Assam and West Bengal,� Ryan added.

Alan West, a resident of the area, says: �As far as natural beauty of Cherrapunjee is concerned, it�s first class, but roads and infrastructure are definitely third class.�

The interior roads, especially leading to falls and caves, are full of potholes and are narrow. �It�s difficult to find accommodation here as there are few hotels and guest houses. Moreover, the government has not been able to take maximum benefit of Cherrapunjee�s Unique Selling Point, its rain,� West said.

A defensive Tourism Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh disagreed, saying Meghalaya cannot be compared to a Switzerland renowned for its tourism industry. ��He (Sangliana) must have expected Cherrapunjee to be like Switzerland; it cannot be so,� she stated.

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