Plainclothesmen to curb fleecing of tourists in Alappuzha

Alappuzha: The police have intensified the vigil to check the fleecing of tourists by middlemen who extort huge amounts from those who flock to the district during the summer months by booking houseboats promising non-existent facilities.

Mr M.E.Shajahan DySP, Alappuzha, told Deccan Chronicle that  they had received a number of complaints from tourists about cheating by middlemen last year.  “A special squad in mufti will be entrusted to check the middlemen,” he said.

The District Tourism Promotion Council  had introduced  118  tourist guides with  identity cards  in February last  after a six-month training by the Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies.  But many guides had committed malpractices. The police said that tourists must register  either directly with DTPC or recognised houseboat operators for houseboat cruise.  

The middlemen pay half  the money to the boat owners and take the rest  from the customers. The tourists are not provided the  facilities promised, DySP pointed out.

DC had reported many cases of cheating in the past. In July 2014, a group of tourists from Malaysia was charged Rs 60,000 for a ride by a middleman but the owner of the houseboat was paid only Rs 20,000.

On Maha Navami day the  same year,  a North Indian couple was extorted Rs 22,000 by another agent for a single bedroom houseboat which plies for just Rs 7,500. The crew also indulge in  criminal activities.

On April 6 last year, the north police  arrested a houseboat employee for misbehaving with an Australian woman tourist. On December 13, 2015,  a young couple from  Raipur, Chhattisgarh, lost gold ornaments worth 4.5 sovereigns along Rs 75,000 from the bed room.

Mr Switen George, vice-president, All-Kerala Houseboat Owners’ Association, says there is an increase of  domestic tourists  from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Malabar during the summer. The  daily rate for  a single room is Rs 6,000.  Boats can be booked  in advance to avoid middlemen, he says.