KOCHI: Even after increasing incidents of beggary in the Fort Kochi area, the officials concerned are clueless on how to stop the illegal activity that is making the area less attractive to tourists.According to the officials, the increasing inflow of migrant peddlers into the area has aggravated the already prevalent problem.“The migrants, especially ladies from the northern parts of the country, sell many articles on the footpaths. In the meantime, they leave their children to beg from the tourists. The children, who are mostly below five years of age, roam around and pester the tourists until they give them some money. If visitors buy something to eat, the migrant kids will not leave the premises until they get the same thing too. Since the children are very young and convincing, most of the visitors yield to their persistence,” said Antony Kureethara, Councillor (Fort Kochi), Kochi Corporation.“In recent months, more and more migrants have been coming into the area. Their activities are mainly centred around the Fort Kochi park as it will be easy for them to target the tourists,” he added.Although the Corporation had sought the help of the Fort Kochi Police to solve the issue, the effort to drive away the migrants proved to be futile as they were always back. Authorities concerned also stated that it was not possible to rehabilitate the migrants in the area as Fort Kochi was already crowded. The Kochi Police had earlier launched a drive to identify migrant labourers coming to the city.The initiative was launched in the wake of reports on anti-social and criminal elements hiding among the migrants. There were efforts to issue identity cards to migrant labourers. Also, it was made mandatory that all labourers should produce a statement from their native police station before the Kochi Police.However, it was not successful.
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