Mumbai: Directorate of Tourism, Maharashtra has been extending help to stranded tourists (due to the lockdown) in the state. The recent one being two Malawi citizens who made a distressed call as they were not able to get food.
Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Dhananjay Sawalkar, joint director, directorate of tourism, Maharashtra, said, “These Malawi citizens are staying in a hotel in Santacruz (Mumbai). They had come to Mumbai as medical tourists. They were starving and we supplied them with food.” These citizens had contacted the central government through ‘Stranded in India’ portal, and they forwarded the details to the state government.
Sawalkar stated, “As soon as we got the information, the directorate of tourism under the guidance of Aditya Thackeray, minister of tourism and support from tourism secretary Valsa Nair Singh, sprang into action"
He revealed this is the first call by tourists asking for food. However, he claimed there were complaints by tourists as they were unable to find food as per their appetite. “Most of them usually contact us to know if the airlines will start functioning or not. We have also got complaints from tourists as hotels were asking for rent. The directorate intervened and asked the hotels to not ask the distressed tourists for room charges,” added Sawalkar.
Most of the tourists are stranded in Mumbai and Pune. “There is a handful in the interiors of the state.” At present, there are citizens from countries like the US, UK, Australia, Columbia, Malawi etc to name a few. However, there is no data available on the number of tourists in the state.
The Directorate of Tourism team has offered guidance to 120 plus stranded tourists who raised queries to the support team set up by the Government of Maharashtra. He added the team was able to help the stranded tourists within a span of 24 hours. “So far, we have helped German tourists stranded in Pench to cross all district borders and reach Mumbai safely to board a special flight organised by the German Embassy (to airlift their citizens).” Other than German citizens, French citizens were also helped.
District collectors, police, hotel associations, all have been working hand in hand with the Directorate of Tourism team to move these stranded tourists, he added.
