Masks find no takers among visitors to Mamallapuram

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  03.01.2022

There was scant regard for masks at tourist hotspots on ECR and Mamallapuram on Sunday, a day after travellers thronged these attractions during the New Year’s day.

The popular tourist hotspot of Mamallapuram was teeming with travellers largely from Chennai and neighbouring districts even as cases continue to spike across the state.

Scores of visitors who explored the ticketed monuments ignored the mandatory mask rule at public places.

The situation at Kovalam beach was no different. The tourist hotspot was flocked by hundreds of people without masks and social distancing. Footfall at the beach was high on Sunday with cars parked on both sides of the road leading to the promenade. This caused massive traffic snarls. There was poor enforcement of Covid-19 protocols in both these places.

While about 5,000 people visited ticketed monuments of ASI on Friday, the number spiked to around 12,000 on Saturday. The TTDC's houseboat at Muttukadu recorded a footfall of 2,000 visitors on Saturday and Sunday.

Mamallapuram-based tourist guide R Stalin said that nine out of ten visitors to Mamallapuram on Sunday did not wear masks.

Meanwhile, ASI sources said that entry into the monuments was not allowed without masks, and that people remove their masks once the enter the main gate of the monument.

When contacted, Chengalpet district collector A R Rahul Nadh said special teams comprising revenue and police department and the local body have been formed to ensure that Covid protocols are not violated at tourist hotspots.