Team Herald
ponda: Tourism stakeholders and jeep operators are worried about the reduced business at the famous Dudhsagar waterfall. The absence of foreign tourists was also felt.
While by December end there is a big demand for jeeps, this year there wasn’t as much although domestic tourists have been visiting in large numbers.
This was confirmed by the Dudhsagar Tourist Operators’ Association (DTOA). Association Chairman Dilip Mairekar pointed out that this year they are relying solely on domestic tourists and that even then they can’t safely predict how many jeeps would be needed for each day.
“On December 21, 240 jeeps ferried 1,200 visitors. The following day, the number of jeeps that made the rounds to the waterfall was 218. On December 23, only 203 jeeps ferried tourists and the number of tourists again rose to 240 on Thursday, said Mairekar.
Currently 431 jeeps are registered with the State Wildlife Board to ferry passengers to the foot of the Dudhsagar falls on rotation basis. The Board has however restricted the number of jeeps that can operate to only 240 per day.
