Kuakata sees few tourists this Eid for 'bad road condition'
Rows of benches, meant for relaxing and enjoying the beauty of Kuakata sea beach by tourists, lie empty even during the Eid holidays as the picturesque spot failed to attract visitors this time, below, as the awfully damaged 22-kilometre Kuakata-Kalapara road connecting the beach to other areas of the country made the journey repulsive to tourists. Photo: STAR
Picturesque Kuakata sea beach sees very few tourists during the Eid vacation this time, much to the frustration of a large number of businessmen in the tourist spot. The people concerned have blamed awful condition of the 22-kilometre road from Kalapara to Kuakata for the situation. A good number of tourists from home and abroad visit Kuakata sea beach that enables people to see sunrise and sunset from the same spot. Local businessmen decorate their business establishments to welcome tourists especially during the Eid holidays that offer people good opportunity to come to the scenic spot. But this time very few tourists came here although three-day Eid holidays from Tuesday to Thursday have virtually extended to five days, including two weekly holidays Friday and Saturday. During a visit to Kuakata on Friday afternoon, this correspondent saw that most of the benches on the beach remained empty while local markets like Jhinuk Marker and Rakhain Market had very few customers. Md Salim, who earns his livelihood by hiring benches on the beach, said, "Sitting on the benches, tourists like to enjoy the beauty of the sea beach, especially sunrise and sunset. We take Tk 20 per hour for use of a bench from the tourists but this year we see serious shortage of tourists although we decorated our benches on the eve of Eid." "We brought new types of goods to attract the tourists, especially women. But not many tourists have come to Kuakata during the ongoing Eid holidays," said Md Ismail, a shopkeeper of Jhinuk Market where different ornaments and showpieces are available. "I have been conducting business here for 12 years but never saw crisis of tourists like this time. Tourists do not want to come to Kuakata due to awfully bad condition of the 22 km road from Kalapara to Kuakata. Besides, all three ferries on the road go under water during high tide. We hope that tourists will get back interest to visit Kuakata if road communication betters," said Wahiduzzaman Sohel, secretary for Kuakata Hotel-Motel Owners Association, also owner of Kuakata International. He urged the authorities concerned to take immediate steps to improve road communication between Kuakata and other parts of the country.
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