Ministry packages Katchal8217;s millennium for select few

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13: So what, if the tourists don't come? After bungling on a once-in-a-millennium opportunity, the Tourism Ministry is...

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13: So what, if the tourists don8217;t come? After bungling on a once-in-a-millennium opportunity, the Tourism Ministry is planning to take half-a-dozen Union ministers on a cruise to watch the first sun rays of the new year falling on the beaches of Katchal island in Andaman and Nicobar.

A tentative guest list includes Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani, Defence Minister George Fernandes, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan, Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley and Minister of State for Home I D Swami 8212; besides, of course, Tourism Minister Uma Bharti.

The other people fortunate enough to witness the sunrise in Katchal will be a small group of diplomats, some bureaucrats and travel writers, tour operators and travel agents and a few tourists including 70 foreigners who are awaiting the Home Ministry8217;s clearance to visit the island which lies closer to Indonesia and Myanmar than India.

The ministry has arranged a chartered flight to take its quot;guestsquot; from Calcutta to Port Blair on December 30. Another chartered flight may be arranged from Chennai to Port Blair if there is a sizable number of guests there also. The guests will the sail from Port Blair to Katchal on INS Harshvardhan 8212; a 28-hour journey 8212; to be in time to watch the dawn on January 1. The ship 8212; with 300 cabins and a capacity of 1,200 passengers 8212; is being decked up for the occasion. As many as 200 cabins have been earmarked for 8220;guests8221;.

The morning of the millennium will be ushered in with tunes of the shehnai 8212; the ministry plans to invite maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan. There will be other artistes too and the show will be telecast live by Doordarshan.

The preparation for the journey from Port Blair to Katchal is being handled by Andaman and Nicobar administration. But the Deputy Resident Commissioner of Andaman amp; Nicobar in the Capital, Jitendra Gupta feigns ignorance about the package. 8220;I have no idea. But I can certainly get the required information for you from our Port Blair office,8221; he says.

Ministry officials still don8217;t know how to explain why they slept over a great tourism opportunity. 8220;Katchal island is an aboriginal tribal reserve and visitors need permission of Andman and Nicobar administration to visit the place. Besides there is no infrastructure for such a major event. Any major construction activity would have disturbed the ecological balance of the island,8221; explains an official.