River Rafting Management and Supervision Committee Meeting

Madikeri, May 18: Additional District Collector Dr. Sahana S. Hadimani has directed that those conducting river rafting in Dubare and Barapole must mandatorily obtain a raft fitness certificate from the General Thimmaiah Rashtriya Adventure Academy (JETNA) and obtain a license renewal letter from the Tourism Department before conducting river rafting (water adventure sport).

He spoke while presiding over the River Rafting Management and Supervision Committee meeting held at the city's District Collector's office hall.

River rafting operators should not conduct river rafting without permission for any reason and without obtaining a renewal letter.

A maintenance fee should be paid every month for each raft used for river rafting. He said that for the safety of tourists, raft guides should get the necessary training from the General Thimmaiah National Adventure Academy, the Commissionerate of the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports and the Office of the Director of the General Thimmaiah National Adventure Academy.

Necessary basic facilities should be provided at the place where river rafting takes place. Drinking water, toilets, vehicle parking, etc. should be taken care of. Tourists should not be bothered for any reason.

Necessary steps should be taken to distribute rafting equipment to the youth of the Scheduled Tribes, the Honey Herders, under the Comprehensive Tribal Development Plan. The Additional District Collector instructed to discuss this matter with the ITDP Department and take action as per the rules.

Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Director of the Tourism Department, Shashidhar Dubare, said that there are 55 raft owners in Dubare and 4 rafting owners in Barapole. He explained that 46 raft owners were given licenses to conduct river rafting in the Dubare Cauvery River and 4 owners to conduct river rafting in the Barapole River last year, and they have been trying to renew this license for the current year by checking the raft fitness and submitting the fitness report to the committee.

Similarly, two people have come forward to conduct still water rafting and kayaking in the Kumaradhara River in Kumaralli (Beedalli) of Somwarpet taluk, and have applied for permission to conduct 4 rafters and kayaking each. However, Shashidhar informed that permission was not given at this place without basic facilities.

He said that under the Karnataka Tourism Policy 2024-29, kayaking, one of the adventure water sports, is allowed, and 16 applications have been submitted for kayaking in various places in Kodagu district.

He said that the Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority has given permission to call tenders for a period of 2 years to conduct water adventure sports such as battery-powered boating, kayaking, and canoeing in Honnamman Lake in Somwarpet taluk by the Tourism Department. The concerned Tahsildars, Executive Officers, Panchayat Development Officers, and the temple management board have already been requested to give their opinions on conducting water adventure sports in this area.

There is 4 cents of land belonging to the Tourism Department in the Honnamman Lake tourist destination, and basic infrastructure needs to be provided in this land. There is a shortage of space for raft parking at the Dubare tourist destination, and the Dubare Association has filed a petition requesting not to allow additional new rafts. The Deputy Director of the Tourism Department explained that 9 requests have been received for conducting new river rafting in the Dubare Cauvery River, as well as 4 requests for kayaking and water chorbing ball at the Dubare tourist site.

Dubare River Rafting Secretary Vasantha spoke and requested that fitness certificates and guide licenses should be available by the end of May. Ratan, Nitin, Pawan, Pradeep of Barapole River Rafting gave a lot of information about river rafting in Barapole. Tahsildar Praveen Kumar suggested that more emphasis should be placed on cleanliness in Barapole, Dubare and all other tourist centers.

DySP Medappa suggested that more emphasis should be placed on the safety of tourists everywhere, including in Dubare and Barapole. Precautions should be taken to prevent disasters.

Public Works Department's EE Prabhu, Sports Department's Assistant Director V.T. Vismaya, Dubare Rafting President Uthappa, C.L. Vishwa gave many information. Tahsildars Sridhar, Sanjana, PDOs Rajashekar, Harish, Tourism Department's Consultant Jatin, and others were present.

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