Amid a conflict with the Maldives over tourism, calls for the Chalo Lakshadweep Islands on Indian social media are slow given multiple constraints, including a lack of direct flights and a hotel with only 150 rooms. You may not even have to ride it. Even if this were to happen, the influx of tourists would have to be controlled, given the island’s fragile ecosystem. Lakshadweep’s MP Mohammad Faisal is backed by a rulebook that stipulates the number of tourists the island can accept in a day. he told NDTV.
Lakshadweep is made up of coral, which is “very vulnerable and ecologically very fragile,” Faisal said.
For this reason, Justice Ravindran Commission, appointed by the Supreme Court, has formulated an “Integrated Island Management Plan”.
This is the “development bible” that is consulted before embarking on roads, piers and other infrastructure projects.
He said the commission’s “widely accepted” plan also suggested the “carrying capacity” of the islands and the number of tourists they could accommodate.
Keeping this in mind, Lakshadweep is currently eyeing ‘high-end managed tourism’ and the Union Territory plans to earn maximum revenue from highly managed tourism. he said. Visiting tourists also need to have “environmental buy-in”, he added.
Only 10 of Lakshadweep’s 36 islands are inhabited. Currently, only 8-10 per cent of Lakshadweep’s population is dependent on tourism. Islands were also not on many people’s lists. However, following the row with the Maldives, many on social media have declared the Lashadweep Islands as the next destination.
The diplomatic spat began after Maldivian ministers made derogatory comments after a widely circulated post about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Lakshadweep Islands.
Three Maldivian ministers were sacked, and the country’s opposition parties criticized the comments. But Maldives President Mohamed Muiz has taken a defiant stance, giving new impetus to the country’s relations with China.
The President of the Maldives today gave India a deadline to withdraw its troops from the island nation. He said Indian military personnel should leave the country by March 15.