|
|
Introduction:
The ancient name of Lakshadweep was Laccadive. In 1973 it was renamed
as Lakshadweep. It is the one of the most fabulous tropical island.
This is the
land which consists of 36 coral islands in the Arabian Sea. It is 185
miles or 300 km away off the kerala coast. This island is the smallest
of the union territories of India and the country’s coral islands. This
appealing isolated place has 36 islands of which 10 of the islands are
inhabited.
They are
Agatti, Kavaratti, Minicoy, Kiltan, Chetlat, Andrott, Bitra, Amini,
Kadmat, kalpeni. Among them Bitra is the smallest of the all having
only the population of 225 persons according to the census of 1991.
Though the land is very small it considered the lagoon area of about
4200 sq km.
|
How to
reach Lakshadweep:
The capital of this union territory is Port Blair. It is situated about
1200 km from the east coast of the mainland. It has alliance airlines
that have flights from Kolkata and Chennai on the rotational basis. The
jet airways operate regular flights from and to Chennai to Lakshadweep.
It takes about 2 hours to reach Port Blair from Chennai by air.
There are
passenger’s ships which sail from Chennai, Vishakhapatnam and Kolkata.
The trip can take 3 to 4 days if the trip is from Chennai and it can
take 1 day more if it is on the route of Kolkata. Port Blair has the
facility of auto- rickshaws, bicycles and taxis. Locally one can take
boats to several islands. One can also hire private boats.
How to
reach Lakshadweep by Air: The most common means to reach
this island is to have a fly from kerala in Cochin. There is a facility
of helicopters and donears which allow only up to 10 kg baggage weight
per person.
How to
reach Lakshadweep by Sea: The government tourist
department has the Society which operates cruises from all islands of
Lakshadweep to Cochin and to the islands which are open for the
tourists.
Travel
permits:
All the foreigners require a travel permit for 30 days to stay on the
islands on their arrival at Port Blair from the authorities. This
permit can be obtained by airport authorities, Indian mission abroad
and from the foreign registration offices at Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi,
and Kolkata. The Indian national do not require permit to visit these
islands but a special permit is necessary while visiting to the tribal
areas.
|
