Kannur: Promoted on the tourism map of Kannur as a 'drive-in' beach, the beauty of Muzhuppilangad is unmistakable. However, speeding vehicles on the beach, especially during holidays, are posing a threat to the normal life of the residents of the area, activists said. They added that the Tourism department and the tourism police were paying no heed to their repeated complaints.
Activist Useeb Ummalil, who lives nearby, said that in the past one month, more than 10 big and small accidents took place on the beach due to speeding vehicles. "One of the students, Afsal (24), is still under treatment after being hit by a car on the beach last week. There is no check on the speed of the vehicles by either the tourism police or the patrolling police," he said.
"Though the speed of the a vehicles is supposed to be restricted to 20km per hour, the photographs of vehicles driving through water creating a huge splash which can be seen on tourism websites portray quite another picture. Besides, there is hardly any facility for the tourists, including a changing room," said district police chief Sanjay Kumar Gurudin. He added that more tourism police needed to be deployed at the beach to ensure the safety of the tourists over a stretch of five to 6 km.
However, the Edakkad police station, that monitors the beach, rejected the allegations and said that the claims were blown out of proportion. "There are accidents taking place, but they are not major. Sometimes, tourists, without knowing the geography of the land, commit some mistakes," police said.
