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MANGALURU: The coast offers plenty of opportunities for scuba diving, but unfortunately there is nobody offering these services on the Karnatakacoast from Mangaluru to Karwar. The only person who offered scuba diving was Dhirendra Rawat, who is out on bail after allegedly molesting at least three women undersea, while scuba diving.

A professional association of diving instructors (PADI)-certified instructor, Rawat did not have permission for scuba diving, both in Udupi and Uttara Kannada. At the same time, he did not need permission to carry out diving from the respective district administrations.

He was offering services through his website Dreamz Diving.com, which at the moment is suspended. Ruchir (name changed) whose friend Meena (name changed) was molested by Rawat off Malpe Coast got in touch with Rawat through his website. "We got in touch with him through the website. We specifically came for scuba diving and the cost per person was Rs 5,000. We set out at 10am on a boat and came back at 3pm. It was a 90-minute ride to the diving spot from Malpe,"said Ruchir.

This is a grey area, says Yatish Baikamapady, CEO, Panambur Beach Tourism Development Project (PBTDP), regarding seeking permission from local authorities. Yatish, who plans to have scuba diving at Kaup in Udupi district soon, says all one needs is a PADI certificate. The job of the district administration is to identify diving spots and regulate it. This has not been done till now along the coast, he said.

Yatish says Kaup island off Shiroor coast and Malpe coast (Udupi) and Nethrani Island offer excellent diving opportunities.

Udupi deputy commissioner R Vishal said: "Rawat had not applied for licence. The moment we received a complaint, we banned his firm’s activities in the district."

On violations by Rawat, Vishal said: "There is slightly a vacuum in this regard. If he had sought permission from us, we would have instructed him to get explicit permission from the police regarding the safety aspect.

Udupi SP K Annamalai said, "There is no question of illegal operation. If tourists go to a hotel, the hotel people call the scuba divers from somewhere. There is no violation of conditions as there is no IPC section which talks about this.

But not many have ventured into it since the business is expensive.

The scuba diving instruments cost a minimum of Rs 10 lakh upwards and a boat will set back by another Rs 20 lakh. "But once it starts people will realise the immense potential it has and mushrooming starts, That’s why we need spot identification and regulation from district administration," he added.