Development of Beach Tourism and Associated Land Use Changes: A Case Study in Digha Development Authority Area

Abstract

Digha is located on the shore of Bay of Bengal and situated at a distance about 145 km southwest of Kolkata. The tourism at Digha has been developed mainly at Digha Development Authority (DDA) Area. Its impact is also visible on the surrounding area which is comprised of a number of villages. But connecting the time and dimension of the work, the area has been restricted to the DDA area only. The development of beach tourism on one hand and increasing beach erosion on the other hand has been raised. The Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) controversies have also hinted the growth of infrastructural facilities necessary for further expansion of thin tourism industry. The intensive use of generators due to power cuts at hotel and shops are making noise and air pollution. Moreover, there is a lack of effort for building alternative tourist attraction at Digha apart from sea has also made the tourism less diversified. So there are the issues which have prompted me to select this place for study.

The seasonal fluctuation of tourist and transport communication system, the populations, the production function has been studied very intensively and it has been analyzed. All these have been shown with the help of maps, diagrams, sketches, photographs for illustration of the content.