Kendrapara: Six tourists had a nightmarish experience when they were stranded in the sea roughly two nautical miles from Pentha beach in Odisha. They were stranded after their boat ran out of petrol on Tuesday afternoon.
According to reports, the hapless tourists were stranded for nearly hours in the sea before the authorities sent another boat to rescue them. The local administration has begun a probe into the unfortunate incident on Wednesday.
Gouri Shankar Sutar, a tourist from Dandisahi, said they ventured into the sea by boat at around 2 pm. As the boat reached mid-sea, it ran out of fuel. “We were rescued only after four hours when another boat was dispatched to take us to the shore. When we arrived at the shore, it was 6 pm,” Sutar said about the horrifying incident.
The Tourist department, which is organising an Eco Retreat Festival from November 15 to March 1, is charging Rs 1,200 for each tourist for a boat ride in the sea. The department is trying to draw tourists to Pentha beach and the nearby mangrove forest. It has pitched 25 luxury tents and is organising water sports in the sea as a part of the Eco Retreat Festival.
The district tourist officer Himalaya Tripathy, however, blamed the boatman for the incident. “We have directed the Eco Retreat Festival authorities to organise water sports keeping in view the safety and security of tourists,” he added.
