Malkangiri administration puts up signage at Bonda Hills

MALKANGIRI: Two days after an Italian couple was stopped from visiting Bonda Hills, district administration on Tuesday erected a signage mentioning a ban on foreign tourists visiting the area without permission from the Home Department.

In the signage, the administration also prohibited photography and videography of Bonda and Paraja tribals inhabiting the area. The couple - Indico Sesodi and Frank Sakha - was detained by police while they were on their way to the Bonda Hills without a permit on Saturday. They were being accompanied by an IGNOU employee. Seeing them, locals informed police and Khairput Tehsildar rushed to the spot and asked them not to proceed to Bonda Hills as they had not got permission from the Home Department which is mandatory to visit the area.

Later, the Tehsildar took them to the office of DRDA Project Director Lingaraj Panda, who explained to them the rules for foreign nationals visiting places inhabited by Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). They left Malkangiri after giving in writing not to visit the area without permission.