Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district gets more tourists than Taj Mahal, Goa ?

Does a relatively unknown Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh get more tourist footfalls than famous Taj Mahal or Goa? At least the state's official statistics claims it but many eyebrows are being raised over the authenticity of these claims.

According to state tourism department's annual administrative report-of 2014, a baffling number of 2.44 crore tourists visited Chhattisgarh during 2014. This figure is almost close to the state's present population of 25.55 million, as per the 2013 census.

The report also indicates that the an astounding 80 lakh tourists visited Rajnandgaon district, where the Bambleshwari temple is located. Bilaspur and Mungeli districts follow Rajnandgaon with more than 45.2 lakh and 22.6 lakh tourist footfall respectively. Of the total 2.44 crore tourists, 7777 were foreigners.

Many eyebrows are being raised over these statistics. All-season destination of Himachal Pradesh, for reference had recorded nearly one crore tourist footfall in 2014, according to state director for information and public relation.

Besides, Taj Mahal had recorded 60 lakh tourist footfalls, as per a reply provided by Union tourism minister Mahesh Sharma in the Lok Sabha recently. Goa tourism website points out that the tiny coastal state recorded nearly 40 lakh tourists in 2014.

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Chhattisgarh's Aam Aadmi Party state co-ordinator for research and RTI, Uchit Sharma has alleged that by no stretch of imagination, one could think that the state's tourism figures are true. "The figure seem to be either deliberately inflated or the methodology of this calculation is faulty," he told TOI.

Sharma alleged that this could also be part of an attempt to secure more funds from the centre by showcasing the magnificence of tourist places by inflating data collected from easily available sources.

He pointed out that even a state like Rajasthan, which is ranked tenth in terms of tourist footfalls, had recorded a footfall of 3.33 crore in 2014.