Mangaluru: A discussion by the beachside on a Monday morning can clear things up the best. A tourism interaction with members of the tourism, industries and urban development authorities made a huge difference in understanding what the city of Mangaluru lacks.
A few hard hitting points about the challenges of coastal development and suggestions which can get Mangaluru-Udupi coast to the pinnacle of modernity and effective socio-economic sustainability at the same time were touched upon by the experts in the field.
Surfing as a sport
Mulki, the motherland of surfing in India has seen such a bright past with people learning to surf and get into mainstream surfing. Surfing is a way of life which can be taken as a hobby and a sport as well. The $ 13 billion industry worldwide has seen a lot of development over the years in India on the whole, after ‘Mantra Surf Ashram’ was established.
Looking at surfing as a way to develop tourism, it can be taught to swimmers and non-swimmers alike. This point makes its way to the top since the sport can effectively make people spend more time at the beach than just splashing sea water and throwing sand cakes at each other.
“Adventure sport is what most people look for these days and especially for Mangaluru, there is a lot of untapped potential in this regard. Surf trainers from Mantra surf club have come forward to teach localites how to surf, starting from Panambur. After a handful of people have learnt surfing, an exclusive surf beach can also be formed where surfers can practice surfing without intervention of general public who might get in the way of the surfers,” said Yathish Baikampady the CEO of Panambur Beach Tourism Development Project.
“In the recent surf festival at Sasihithlu, mega economic activities had taken place. It was not only the location that saw a huge turnout, but it was majorly the development in co-operation with the locals. The move made by the organizers of the surfing event in which a mega food stall was given to the women of local community made best use of the platform to run a sea food joint beside the main event area. They made a lot of money from cooking and running their business. This is an example of what the locals can benefit from surfing events and other activities at the beach where a bustling gathering of public can create excellent economic zones,” said Gaurav, another member of the Panambur Beach Tourism Development Project.
“Mulki is the capital for surfing in India. We have umpteen numbers of foreign visitors who like to learn surfing and practice surfing at the beaches here. It is as important to keep the beaches clean as it is to learn to surf. We make it a point to clean up the shores of the beaches to provide the right surfing ambience. Karnataka has a terrific coast and is ideal to take up surfing as we have good waves as well,” said Sham who is an ace surfer and also a surf instructor.
It is also to be noted that the leading electronics manufacturing brand, ‘Samsung’ has shot an advertisement keeping surfing as the main topic. The pristine beauty of the coast in south Karnataka is highlighted in the award winning advertisement as Samsung chose coastal Karnataka over Bali, Sri Lanka and even Hawaii. The mangroves, golden sands and clear waters of this area had surely cast a spell over Samsung ad makers.
Development within the city
The main motive in successful tourism is to make a visitor to a stay in a place for as long as possible. Mangaluru city has to make its visitors aware of the places to see in and around the city for them to spend time in. Apart from religious tourism, historic and adventure tourism must be developed through various means.
Yathish Baikampady suggested Commissioner of Mangaluru City Corporation, Nazeer to put up boards by the roadside to show visitors the way to the nearest place of interest like that what they have in Mysuru. “By doing so, we give the visitors more options and reasons to stay in the city which will make them play an active role in hyper-local economic activities as well,” Yathish said.
Taking a stand on open defecation
In the light of Mangaluru city being one of the first cities to be free of open defecation, few villages on the coastal belt face the problem of feces.
“It may be a common for the locals to see such a horrendous sight, but the visitors coming in from bigger cities and foreign countries will be turned off by this sight and instead of extending their stay, they will cut it short by several days on the whole,” said M R Shetty the proprietor of ‘Mangalore Beach Villas’ a homestay beside the beach in Hosabettu near Surathkal. M R Shetty and his wife run this beach house and were left red faced when they had complaints from foreigners about open defecation along the coast.
The only suggestion for this problem was to build community toilets in designated areas. It is one thing to build the toilets, but maintaining them is another issue. And it is an even bigger problem if the people choose to continue defecating in the beach even after the infrastructure is made available to them.
A move made by the Panambur Mogaveera Grama Sabha in banning open defecation in Chitrapura area has set an example to the village panchayats in the coastal belt.
Conclusion
Our coast definitely needs to curb the problem of open defecation but proper education must be imparted in villages close to the sea so that the beauty of the beaches remains intact.
With regard to surfing being taken up to make Mangaluru an adventure tourism hub, a surf club will be opened in Panambur beach soon. Since the surfing season has begun again after the unfavorable weather, the surf school is expected to be launched in a couple of months. After the announcement of surfing to be an Olympic sport in 2020 Olympics, there is more reason for youngsters to learn surfing.
The tourism website must be updated and effective tourism reforms must be implemented to keep visitors in Mangaluru for a longer period of time.
