Kerala Tourism faced an embarrassing moment when a group of foreign tourists took it upon themselves to clean the garbage from the historic Fort Kochi beach. Despite the web page depicting it as a place “with clean premises and tranquil atmosphere, frequented by tourists and locals,” the reality painted a different picture.
In response, the Tourism Department, aligning with Tourism Vision 2025, aimed at optimising Kerala’s tourism potential sustainably, has called for a report from its officials regarding the beach’s current condition.
The incident unfolded through a viral video and pictures depicting Russian women cleaning the beach and disposing of collected waste before taking a swim. Adding to the humiliation, the tourists left a message on the bags, urging locals to “cleanse your life, collect trash, fill a pocket with it, burn it or bury it.” This prompted online criticism with one person stating, “Shameful!! Fed up with the uncleanness at Fort Kochi Beach, a group of Tourists from Russia started cleaning the beach themselves. A local person helped them to buy the garbage bags but the local councilor declined to remove even the filled bags!”
Another chimed in, “It’s really disgusting that fort kochi one of the most iconic places in kerala needs the interventions of foreigners who couldn’t stand the sight of a beach getting destroyed…..and got into action themselves …..”
Take a look at he viral video of foreign tourists cleaning a beach on Kerala. Over dozens of foreign nationals carry out a cleanliness drive at the Fort Kochi beach#Kerala #FortKochi #CleanlinessDrive #Kochi pic.twitter.com/m8AgxZCNxk— News18 (@CNNnews18) January 30, 2024
The video highlighted the cleaning efforts of the Russian team in the presence of C Satheesh, the President of the All Kerala Tour Guides Association, leading a group of NRI tourists. Satheesh later expressed his embarrassment, stating, “It is a matter of shame that foreign tourists had to take up cleaning of Kerala’s prime beachfront.”
Allegations surfaced that the appointed Cochin Heritage Conservation Society was not effectively carrying out the beach cleaning.
The incident also spurred demands for enhanced beach-cleaning measures. The beach was found littered with various types of garbage, including plastic, water hyacinth, thermocol, and glass bottles, accumulating during low tide. Stakeholders argued that the daily cleaning efforts by around 20 sweepers and garbage collectors were insufficient.
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