Nagaland to introduce Tourist Police during Hornbill Festival

Guwahati, November 8, 2018:

The Nagaland government has announced that it would deploy a tourist police for the security of tourists that will come to the state for celebrating the annual Hornbill Festival scheduled from December 1.

A special squad is being raised by the Nagaland police for the security purpose of the tourist during their stay in Nagaland. About 100 personnel will under a specialised training. The squad will be "launched" for duty before the festival. The police team will be one of the first in the region that will be dedicated for services to the tourist only.

Over the years Nagaland has seen a massive increase in tourist footfalls and in this case the state police face a lot of difficulties in managing the crowd in the state. In order to keep a track on the tourist the tourist police has been introduced.

The Hornbill Festival is a celebration held every year from 1 - 10 December, in Nagaland and it is also known as the festival of festivals.

Nagaland is home to several tribes, which have their own distinct festivals. More than 60% of the population of Nagaland depends on agriculture and therefore most of their festivals revolve around agriculture. The Nagas consider their festivals sacred, so participation in these festivals is essential.

To encourage inter-tribal interaction and to promote cultural heritage of Nagaland, the Government of Nagaland organizes the Hornbill Festival every year in the first week of December. The first festival was held in 2000.

The festival is named after the Indian hornbill, the large and colourful forest bird which is displayed in the folklore of most of the state's tribes.