Nagaland to Launch Tourist Police Force Ahead of Hornbill Festival

Guwahati: Following the footsteps of the Arunachal Pradesh, another Northeastern state Nagaland is all set to launch a tourist police before the Hornbill Festival on December 1.

Nagaland will be only the second state in the northeast after Arunachal Pradesh became the first state in the northeast to have launched a special police force dedicated for the service of Tourist in the state days ago. Nagaland police is currently on the job to raise the special squad which has become imperative to ensure tourist safety in the wake of a rising footfall of both foreign and domestic tourists to the popular annual winter festival at Kisama near Kohima

Talking about the initiative Senior Superintendent of Police, Vekhosa Chakhesang, told the media on Wednesday that “About 100 police personnel from the state police will undergo specialised training to be conducted in association with the tourism department. Our inspector general of police (IGP) is on the job in this regard and we are planning to launch the squad before the Hornbill Festival,”.

Stressing on the importance of a special police force dedicated for the safety and security of tourist in the state, Chakhesang further said “The number of both foreign and domestic tourists to the state has increased substantially over the years and it was about time that such a force was launched to ensure security for them. Many foreign tourists prefer to visit various places, and in such a situation, for the state police to look after every tourist can be difficult,”

Asked whether any mobile application, like the one in Arunachal Pradesh, would be launched in Nagaland, the SP replied in the affirmative but said that the details will be clear by the second week of November.

A review meeting of the concerned departments, police and district administration, village councils, youth bodies, and stakeholders in regard to preparation for the Hornbill Festival was also held in Kohima recently.

The Kohima district administration informed that separate meetings for security coordination and traffic management during the festival would be convened soon.

Aspects such as efficient street lighting, stable power, and water supply, cleanliness and beautification are also being taken into consideration by the district administration ahead of the festival.

To encourage inter-tribal interaction and to promote the cultural heritage of Nagaland, the Government of Nagaland organizes the Hornbill Festival every year in the first week of December. The festival was held for the first time in 2000.

The festival is named after the Indian hornbill, the large and colourful forest bird which is displayed in the folklore of most of the state's tribes.

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