Odisha: Tourists don’t have to show Covid negative report at Puri checkpoints

BHUBANESWAR: Puri district administration has said Covid-19 negative report is not mandatory for tourists to enter Puri and check into hotels.
Though the administration had not made it mandatory for tourists to carry Covid negative reports, some district and police officials had allegedly been denying the visitors entry without the RT-PCR negative report at six checkpoints set up on Puri outskirts.
In an order on August 1, the district collector Balwant Singh said tourists should show the details of their hotel booking to officials at the checkpoints for entry to Puri. The order was circulated on Monday to police and tehsil staff members, who manned the checkpoints. Hoteliers have also been informed about the order.
“It is hereby clarified that any person coming from other districts and states to Puri to stay in hotels under the Puri municipality area are requested to provide reservation details of the hotels at the Naka points instead of Covid-19 negative report,” the order said.
Notably, the state government allowed functioning of the hotels across the state with 30% occupancy from June 8. However, hoteliers in Puri hardly got the benefit as the district administration had issued an order on July 5, banning the entry of people from outside the district and state to Puri. A delegation of hoteliers recently met the district collector and urged him to allow the hotels to function in accordance with the government’s guidelines.
“We are happy that the district administration clarified about the entry of tourists to Puri. Hotels will never ask their guests to show Covid-19 negative reports for check-in. They should not face harassment at checkpoints,” general secretary of the hotel association of Puri (HAP) Raj Kishore Patra said.
Debasis Kumar, another senior HAP functionary and owner of Victoria Club Hotel, said all hotels have been adhering to the government’s Covid guidelines to ensure the safety of tourists and staff members. “We suffered body blow following Cyclone Fani in May last year. Covid outbreak brought the sector on our knees. Ban on the participation of devotees during June Rath Yatra prevented the inflow of tourists to Puri and dealt a blow to the hotel industry. In May this year, the railways announced termination of Puri-bound trains at Bhubaneswar. We badly need government’s support to revive the sector,” Kumar said.
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