Tourist-related activities banned in Pulicat after boats capsize in backwaters

Besides the backwaters, Pulicat has a recently renovated lighthouse that attracts a sizable number of tourists regularly. An early Dutch settlement, the fishing hamlets in and around Pulicat is also home to buildings and cemeteries reminiscent of its Dutch heritage.

Tiruvallur district officials said that even though the lighthouse is a restricted area, tourists would try to explore it. “In wake of the recent Sri Lankan bombings and the incident on Sunday, we have instructed the local fishermen to inform local officials if they find any tourists trying to enter it,” a Tiruvallur district official said.

Meanwhile, tourists who were unaware of the mishap or the ban on visiting the lighthouse and other heritage buildings and had gone to the fishing hamlet on Monday to return disappointed, said local fishermen.

On Sunday evening, two fishing boats carrying 10 tourists belonging to two families in Kasimedu had ventured into the waters for a joy ride when the boats collided and capsized resulting in the death of a pregnant woman and while nine otherswere injured. Boating activities in the Pulicat has been banned since December 2011 following a major boat mishap in which 22 people drowned.