New Delhi, Aug. 10: The Centre today sent an advisory to all state governments asking them to identify accident-prone spots at tourists sites and declare them "no-selfie zones".

The Union tourism ministry, concerned about nearly 50 selfie-related deaths over the past two years, has asked the states and Union territories to place signages that warn visitors of the dangers involved in trying to take selfies at such locations.

"In recent times, a number of accidents occurring in the process of taking selfies at accident-prone locations at tourist sites have been widely reported," says the advisory from Meenakshi Sharma, additional director general in the ministry.

It has asked the states to identify such spots and post volunteers to caution visitors.

The advisory, addressed to tourism principal secretaries or secretaries of states, has also asked them to sensitise visitors through public address systems, barricade accident-prone areas and spread awareness through media campaigns.

"We want to promote tourism in a big way, but the safety of visitors at tourist sites is also of utmost priority. In current times, many visitors endanger their own lives by venturing into areas where they believe they will get good selfies," said a tourism ministry official.

"This is a worrying trend and we have been getting complaints. Safety and security at tourist places is primarily the responsibility of state governments, but we feel it is our responsibility to nudge the states to act."

In January, Mumbai had declared 16 no-selfie zones across the city after a spate of accidental deaths. A month later, Karnataka too had declared a bar on selfies at accident-prone spots at tourist sites.

Last September, local authorities had banned selfies at the Kumbh Mela in Nashik, mainly to pre-empt bottlenecks created by pilgrims stopping to take their own pictures in a moving crowd.

"We don't know yet what kind of repercussions this bar on selfies will create, but we are hoping that tourists understand that this move is not aimed at killing their joy, but to ensure their safety," an official with the ministry's monument division said.

"Nowadays almost everybody is armed with a smartphone with front cameras and, therefore, keeping a check on clicking selfies is not going to be an easy task at tourist places," the official added.

Recently, cricketer RavindraJadeja was fined Rs 20,000 for taking a selfie with lions at Gujarat's Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, an act prohibited by law.

Some travel industry insiders welcomed the advisory. Piyanshi Mehrotra, a Delhi-based tourism consultant, said youngsters were gripped by a "craze for selfies" taken in unusual spots and at unique angles, fuelled by the "celebrity fad for smartphone camera self-portraits".

"This can and has led to dangerous situations - and, in many cases, people have lost their lives because of this obsession," Mehrotra added. "I am happy that the central and state governments are realising the dangers associated with such a trend and are taking corrective steps."

A report in The Washington Post earlier this year had said India accounted for at least half the world's 27 selfie-related deaths last year.

According to the tourism ministry's estimate, however, attempted selfies accounted for nearly 50 deaths at popular spots across the country in 2014 and 2015.