Sylhet tourist spots need to increase basic amenities

SYLHET, Apr 21: The tourist sites in Sylhet region need to undergo necessary development with inclusion of more basic amenities to increase flow of visitors, which will help the local tourism sector flourish and fetch the government higher revenue income.

Insiders said there are plans for improvement of the tourism sector in Sylhet region but no implementation steps have been taken yet in this regard.

Even operation of the Tourist Police could not be started on all the tourist spots so far, while the promising sector stumbled time and again in recent years.

For the want of basic amenities, the region did not witness an expected flow of tourists during the nine-day Eid-ul-Fitr vacation this time, longest ever one for the festival.

All it happened due to absence of some basic facilities for the visitors, sources concerned said.

Normally visitors from all strata of life flock to tourist destination Jaflong, and the crowd here becomes overwhelming during any vacation with people from all over the country converging.

But sufficient facilities could not be raised there although only a camp of Tourist Police has been set up.

There is no facility either to change clothes while some private establishments are there.

People also do not get interest to visit there due to lack of sufficient security arrangements.

Some female visitors like Selina Begum from Dhaka's Mohammadpur said normally females prefer staying in Sylhet city to visiting places like Jaflong.

Owner of a private tourist spot said a number of hotels and motels are there at Jafflong and around. There should be some facilities under government arrangement there to facilitate visitors, he added.

Some locals like Anwar Hossain of Jaflong Mamar Bazar said a public toilet had been set up under government initiative for tourists, but many people cannot use it for distant location.

On the other hand, people have to suffer in absence of a parking spot nearby. They have to place their vehicles far away.

Above all locals demand changing Jaflong into a more developed tourist destination, but the government is not showing interest in it.

The upazila administration years ago started collecting tolls from visitors, which was stopped amid protests.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer Ratan Kumar Adhikari said the authorities would soon start some important development works at Jaflong soon- an initiative that will come into reality in months.

Tourists sometimes meet tragic death while having bath in the transparent water. It could not be stopped even after repeated cautionary announcements through loudspeakers for maximum alert.

Next to Jaflong, the important tourist site is Sadapathar, in Bholaganj area of Companiganj, which came in limelight just a decade ago. But it is still not included in the government list.

Several lakh people visited the site this year too, but there has been set up no government facility there yet- though some private initiatives are underway. A public toilet was set up in 2022 near the Zero Point area, which was washed away by severe floods.

Besides, there is no facility to change clothes or toilet for tourists, especially for females. People have to use boats to reach the site but shortage of boats is also acute. That is why visitors have to walk there.

A number of traders in Bholaganj said Sadapathar is yet to see activities of the Tourist Police, but during Eid policemen were there on duty and no untoward incident took place. Sylhet's Deputy Commander Sher MAHBUB Murad visited the site weeks ago.

Bisnakandi is another tourist site in a nice area on Meghalaya border, which now attracts a less number of tourists for lack of sufficient amenities.

Ratargul is also a tourist site, which draws a good number visitors round the year for its uniqueness. But locals and tourists have to suffer for high boat fare and indiscriminate disposal of waste on the vast site.

The Forest Department amid huge protests by activists constructed a watch tower a decade ago, but they had to stop tourist visit on security ground years ago. An artificial lake had also been raised near the site for boat rides.

Lalakhal is also a unique tourist site on the Jainta-Meghalaya border. The administration has little care to the spot.

Additional DIG of Tourist Police, (in charge of Dhaka, Mymensingh and Sylhet regions) Md Shakhawat Hossain told this correspondent, "We are trying to improve the overall situation. Each and every site would be covered with sufficient security so that the tourists get confidence to visit freely."

However, they have camps in Jaflong, Bisnakandi, Bholaganj, Srimangal, Madhabkunda and Tanguar Haor in Sunamganj.

"We see the Satchhari site in Habiganj with manpower from Moulvibazar occasionally," he said.

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