Not the Expected Party

A tourism promotion initiative co-sponsored by the Karnataka government didn’t exactly go according to plan.

A tourism promotion initiative co-sponsored by the Karnataka government to lure foreigners to the state’s beaches didn’t exactly go according to plan. What was intended as a celebration of music, culture and arts, became a booze, drugs and sex fest for the 1,500-strong crowd. One skimpily clad couple was even caught on camera having a quickie, oblivious to the crowds around them. Titled Spring Zouk 2012, the event was held at St Mary’s Island off Udupi. This is a place normally off-limits to the public—only fishermen can dry their nets here. The quickie was caught on a cellphone camera and broadcast on television news channels, incensing the temple town’s religious heads. Environmentalists have criticised the government for violating Coastal Regulatory Zone norms by holding the festival on an uninhabited island. Initially, Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda stuck to his stand that the event was organised to lure foreigners. The unexpected turn of events has made him order a probe into the episode.

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Anil Budur Lulla