Holiday in Chambal with dacoits

JAIPUR: Bored with the staple holiday diet of Kerala’s placid backwaters and Goa’s beaches? How about a walk in the Chambal ravines with a dacoit for company?

You can soon plan such a holiday if the tourism department of the Rajasthan government clears a proposal to allow tourists to interact with former dacoits of the Chambal ravines.

The Dangs Area Development Board (DADB), a government body responsible for the improvement of the six districts that collectively comprise the Dangs region, has come up with the idea of a ‘dacoit trail’. The move is part of a strategy to develop the region into a tourist draw.

“We are asking the government to put the dacoit trail on the tourism circuit. This will be an added attraction for people coming to Rajasthan,” DADB chairman Krishna Chandra Pal told DNA.

Even the dacoits are gung-ho about the move. Autari Gurjar, the most dreaded of his time (till he surrendered in 2007), said he was fascinated by the idea. “If the tourists are ready to come here to interact with us, they are welcome.”

The Dang districts — Sawai Madhopur, Karauli, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Baran and Jhalawar—have historically been a hotbed of dacoits in the Chambal region.
While dreaded dacoits like Jagan Gurjar, who had recently expressed support for his community’s recent stir, are still active in the area, dozens have surrendered and live normal lives.

These include Roop Singh, Madho Singh, Bhanwar Singh and bandit queen Surjo.

The DADB is keen to add an exciting twist to holiday offers by packaging in retired dacoits. “The Dang area has the potential to become a major tourism destination as it offers lot of variety in terms of terrain, wildlife and culture.

But the area could never be developed as a tourist attraction because of its dacoit connection. Now we plan to turn the area’s notoriety into its USP,” says Pal, who is scion of the former rulers of Karauli.

Tour operators have already warmed up to the opportunity. “An encounter with dacoits will surely attract a lot of adventure tourists. But security of the visitors is an issue that will have to be addressed,” said tour operator Fateh Singh Rajawat who owns a five-star heritage hotel in the Dangs.

source:http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1173912