Tsunami fear keeps people away from Malpe shores

The number of tourists visiting Malpe beach dropped drastically on Thursday in the wake of yesterday’s Tsunami warning followed by earth quake. Meanwhile, the boats plying from Malpe to St Mary’s island, which would otherwise have considerably good number of takers, too saw very few commuters.

Due to this the boats remained anchored on the shores of Malpe. The hotels and shacks selling tea, coffee and snacks too had very few customers.

The number of visitors went down on Wednesday itself, with the airing of the news on various news channels. A boat owner said that till Tuesday, the boats in the area used to ply twice to St Mary’s by afternoon, but on Thursday they did not even get people enough run a single trip.However, fishing and fish trade went on unperturbed.

Though the fishermen who had ventured into the sea were asked to return on Wednesday, most fishermen ventured into the sea again following information that the region was out of Tsunami threat.

However, a few tourists who were in Udupi from far away places were seen enjoying the beaches on Wednesday and even on Thursday without any fear. Police personnel were deployed on the shores.