By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR:The Ministry of Tourism through its autonomous institute “National Institute of Water Sports (NIWS–IITTM)” conducts courses related to scuba diving, diving, surfing, parasailing, canoeing and other water sports. NIWS-IITTM is the nodal Government institution for training, certification and capacity building in water sports in India.
At present, no formal proposal is with the Ministry of Tourism for development of water sports infrastructure in Coastal Karnataka. However, some States/UTs such as Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Gujarat and Odisha have approached NIWS–IITTM for establishment of satellite centres to support capacity building and safe water-based tourism.
Further, under the “Creation and Up-gradation of Sports Infrastructure” component of the Khelo India Scheme (KIS) and National Sports Development Funds (NSDF), financial assistance has been provided for development of sports infrastructure such as synthetic athletic track, synthetic hockey field, synthetic turf football ground, multipurpose hall, swimming pool etc. Projects have been sanctioned across the country including 01 project of Swimming Pool in the State of Karnataka. The details of the sports infrastructure projects approved and their sanctioned cost, funds released and their physical and financial progress, under the KIS and NSDF, across the country including in the State of Karnataka are available in public domain on the dashboards of the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports at https://mdsd.kheloindia.gov.in and at http://www.nsdf.yas.gov.in/nsdf-glance.html, respectively.
At present, no formal proposal is with the Ministry of Tourism for exploring 111 declared National Waterways for water sports. However, several National Waterways are already being utilized for water sports activities by respective State Governments. These include, inter alia: Ganga (Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand), Sutlej (Himachal Pradesh), Indus (Ladakh), Chenab, Godavari, Kaveri, Krishna, Mahanadi, Narmada, Sabarmati, Netravati, Sharavati, Tungabhadra, Mandovi, Chapora, Ghataprabha, Ravi and canal systems in Kerala.
The details are as under:
- Safety Standards and Guidelines: NIWS–IITTM has developed comprehensive safety standards and SOPs for various water sports activities. These have been adopted/incorporated by several States/UTs in their respective water sports and adventure tourism policies. Technical support has been provided to States/UTs such as Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Goa, Gujarat, Odisha and Puducherry.
- Enforcement Mechanism: Enforcement of safety regulations rests with the respective State/UT Governments. These include Tourist Police in Goa, Tourist Safety Enforcement Team (TSET) in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, State and District-level Adventure Tourism Committees in Gujarat and Odisha.
- Compliance Status: Compliance is monitored by State/UT authorities through periodic inspections, audits and enforcement teams as per their respective guidelines.
The proposals received from the State/UT Governments and other eligible entities are considered for financial support, subject to their completeness, technical feasibility, risk assessments and carrying capacity analysis for coastal areas, rivers, reservoirs and lakes and availability of funds under the Scheme.
