The sea beach at Puri, which is among the most attractive beaches in the country, has come alive with tourists back in the town following lifting of restrictions the administration had imposed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the past one week since the lifting of curbs thousands of people from across Odisha and neighbouring Bengal have arrived in the seaside town for holidaying.

This is good news for the state tourism department which has reported a 99 per cent drop in the arrival of foreign tourists and 84 per cent drop in the arrival of domestic tourists to the state in 2020-21 due to the Covid crisis.

Hoteliers in Puri are happy and hopeful of tourism reviving in the town.

“The sea beach has become clean and looks attractive as it is reopening after more than three months. People have started booking rooms in hotels. We will have to wait for a few more days for business to pick up,” said Puri Hotel Owners’ Association president Rama Krushna Dasmohapatra.

Dasmohapatra said: “It has been decided to re-open the Puri Shree Jagannath Temple for devotees from August 16. On the first five days, the people of Puri will have a darshan of the deities. From August 23 people from all parts of the country are allowed to enter the shrine. We are hopeful the number of hotel bookings will increase after August 23.”

“There was no business for the last three months. Now the business is limping back to normal,” said Harishankar Swain, a conch seller on the Puri beach.

Similar are the sentiments of Pramod Patra, whose camel gives tourists joy ride on the beach. “The business was badly hit for the last one year. We have not been able to feed our camels. We require Rs 500 for feeding a camel every day. With the business coming to a halt for the last three months completely, we have not been able to earn a single pie. We have struggled hard to feed the camels. I know some of these animals including horses and camels have died of hunger with owners unable to feed them.”

However, the town has witnessed a series of protests over the state administration’s move to declare a part of the beach as Blue Flag beach. Hundreds of people, depending on their livelihood on the sea beach, are opposing the Puri administration’s move to convert the beach into a Blue Flag beach with restricted entry.

President, Beach Protection Council of Odisha, Jagannath Bastia said, “As the public money is being used for the development of the beach, one cannot use it for commercial purposes. Nearly 90 per cent people earn their livelihood on the sea beach. As per the law, no vendors will be allowed to enter the blue flag beach. This will hit the livelihood of local people.”

Lawyer and convenor of Jagannath Sena (an outfit working for protection of Jagannath Culture and Puri) Priyadarshana Patnaik warned of a bigger agitation in the coming days on the issue. “A part of the beach has already been converted into Blue Flag beach. We will not oppose the development of a Blue Flag beach along the Puri-Konark marine drive, away from the main Puri beach where thousands of people come to have fun.”

However, Puri district administration maintains that Blue Flag beach is a concept to attract tourists from across the country and abroad. “Blue Flag concept is a step towards making the beach clean and more attractive for the tourists from other parts of the country. We will not convert the entire sea beach into blue flag beach but only a part of it,” said a senior official of the Puri district administration.