Tourist influx in India increased by 13% last year to cross four million and the 2010 Commonwealth Games should bring in more visitors to the national capital.
NEW DELHI: Tourist influx in India increased by 13 percent last year to cross four million and the 2010 Commonwealth Games should bring in more visitors to the national capital, but can Delhi cope with just 84 tourist police personnel?
Delhi is an important tourist destination and many of the 4.3 million people who visited India last year, up from 3.92 million in 2005, stopped by to take in its many attractions or use it as a transit to other destinations like Agra and Jaipur.
But to take care of them, only 10 Police Control Room (PCR) vans are currently operational at the capital's 10 primary tourist locations, the international airport, New Delhi Railway Station, Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station, Raj Ghat, Red Fort, Qutub Minar, Palika Bazar, Janpath, India Gate and Pahar Ganj.
With each PCR vehicle occupied by four Delhi Police officials, a sub inspector, a head constable, a woman constable and a driver, working in two shifts, the force adds up to a grand total of 84.
"The said strength works for 24 hours and provides all necessary assistance to both domestic and international tourists with free city maps, Delhi's literature, auto and taxi fair chart, locations of historical monuments and list of emergency numbers," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (PCR) Ajay Kumar.
The abysmal situation might change soon. "We have sent a proposal to the home ministry to provide us 200 such more PCR vans. We are expecting that it will be given a green signal in next few days. The new strength will help us in increasing the numbers of tourist police," Kumar said.
Action has also been stepped up against those harassing tourists, who last year brought in $6.5 billion from $5.7 billion in 2005.
According to statistics available with Delhi Police, over 250 touts have been arrested this year. In 2006, police had apprehended 474 touts in comparison to 176 in 2005. In 2004, the number was just 76.
According to officials, police have helped 100,412 tourists (both domestic and international) this year so far, while they guided 114,120 people in 2006. A total of 100,496 received police assistance in 2005, whereas only 28,000 people were helped in 2004.
"If you see the data, the number of cases of assistance has increased in the past couple of years. Tourists at times face several problems related to transport, accommodation, getting tourism-related information and many times they fall victim to cheats and touts, losing their belongings and valuables," said a senior police official.
"We help them in procuring tickets for museums, resorts, transports, movies. We ensure that no peddlers, jewellers, shopkeepers, touts, cheats and beggars harass them," he added.
Queried if the current strength is adequate to handle more tourists during the Commonwealth Games, Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said the strength would be increased in the near future keeping in mind the needs of the time.
"Apart from increasing strength in view of the upcoming games, we are providing special training to the staff to assist foreign tourists," he added.
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