Rajesh Kumar Behera in Paradeep port, India
Winter is considered as the best time for going on picnic .As the picnic season is on Paradip has turned into a major tourist spot this time in the coastal district following most of the picnic parties from the adjoining districts and also from outside the state are thronging to port town in order to see the sunken Mongolian ship, MV.Black Rose, at the Bay of Bengal.The Sunken ship has managed to pull the tourists to pay a visit to Paradip in the ongoing picnic season . The sunken ship has turned a blessing in disguise for the small road side food stalls to earn good amount this season. Notably the ship sank off on September 9th near the Paradip coast .The sunken ship has become a top draw for tourists this winter season. Every day more than hundred tourists , including locals, are visiting the beach every day to take a glimpse of the ill-fated ship, the upper portion of which is still visible from the ship . Though officials of Paradip Port Trust will not allow anybody to get close to the ship but many tourists are hiring fishing vessels to go as close to the ship as possible to have a better view of the sunken ship. The number of tourists is increasing everyday informed , Prakash Das, a local Taxi driver . According to Ranjan Rout, an eatery shop near the beach “I used to sell food to only 50-70 people before the ship sank on September 9. But now, I get at least 200-250 customers a day. “Since last 15 days the tourists coming to the beach to see the ship has gone upto thousand per day . Earlier, their number was not more than 200 to 300 people,” beach guard Pravat Pradhan said. “Like other countries, tourists are coming to the sunken ship site. The 12 km-long Paradip beach is looking gorgeous with people coming every day in good numbers . And that makes the road side small food stall to earn a handsome amount by opening stalls at the beach. Apart from sunken ship site ,the beach also has some very surprises for visitors, including an aquarium of fresh water and marine fish, turtles and other marine animals and kight house . So , the number of picnic parties and tourists have increased this year than past years .
