Tourists stay on Cox's Bazar beach defying Asani warning

COX'S BAZAR, May 10: More than fifty thousand tourists now spend their time in the Cox's Bazar beach in defiance of a ban imposed by the district administration.
The district administration has banned tourists' arrival on the Cox's Bazar beach as sea remains rough due to the impact of cyclonic storm Asani.
Syed Murad Islam, Cox's Bazar District Administration Executive Magistrate (Tourism Cell), said, "The district administration has banned tourists' arrival on the Cox's Bazar beach as sea remains rough due to the impact of cyclonic storm Asani. At the same time, warning signal No. 2 is in force."
Mukim Khan, general secretary of Cox's Bazar Hotel-Resort Owners' Association, said about 0.6 million (6 lakh) tourists have come to Cox's Bazar during this Eid vacation. Tourist arrivals have declined slightly since Friday afternoon, he added.
Rezaul Karim, Cox's Bazar Tourist Police Additional Superintendent of Police, said, "The number of tourists has dropped by almost half due to the impact of cyclonic storm Asani. Some old and new tourists are coming to the beach. Braving rain and defying the ban, more than half a million tourists have arrived on the beach. Tourist police are repeatedly warning them not to take a bath in knee-deep water."
Abdul Hamid Mia, Assistant Meteorologist at Cox's Bazar Meteorological Department, said, "It has been raining heavily in Cox's Bazar since Tuesday morning. Moderate to heavy rain is likely to occur here in the next 24 hours. The cyclonic storm Asani is currently located 1100 km west-southwest of Cox's Bazar. As a result, distant warning signal No. 2 is still in force at Cox's Bazar seaport."
Visiting the beach, it has been seen that neither tourists nor locals left the area. Lifeguards and tourist police are instructing tourists to stay safe and alerting them by miking. Several tourist buses came from Dhaka on Monday night and Tuesday morning.
Mamunur Rashid, Deputy Commissioner, said overall preparations have been made by the district administration. A total of 56 shelters have been kept ready apart from 6,600 volunteers.
Police, Ansar, Coast Guard, and Red Crescent are also ready to save the lives and properties from the cyclonic storm. If the cyclone is strong, it will be possible to provide safe shelter to more than 0.5 million (5 lakh) people.

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