Clicking selfies in this Indian district can land you in jail for up to one month

• ‘No-Selfie’ zones have been set up across Gujarat’s Dang district.
• Selfies are prohibited at tourist destinations such as Saputara hill station.
• Clicking selfies at Saputara hill station could lead to a penalty of Rs 200 or a jail term.
  

Clicking selfies has been banned at tourist places in Gujarat state’s Dang district. Anyone caught in the act of taking selfies at Saputara -- Gujarat’s only hill station -- will be penalised with a fine of up to Rs 200 or a jail term of one month.

As per a news report in TOI, the additional district magistrate T K Damor had issued a notification last month making ‘no selfie’ zones across tourist destinations in the Dang district. Authorities have cited irresponsible acts by visitors who click selfies by getting into dangerous positions that sometimes prove fatal.

“With the start of the monsoon, there has been a huge influx of tourists in Dang. While enjoying nature, many act irresponsibly by taking selfies which lead to accidents that could prove fatal. The notification has been issued to prevent such incidents,” said the district magistrate Damor. The authorities said that since the risky selfies were not only taken at the Saputara hill station but also at dangerous spots like roads, cliffs, waterfalls and rivers.

Entering the rivers during the monsoon to wash clothes or bath is also prohibited as per the notification. With the tourist influx on the rise since COVID-19 lockdown was lifted, the administration wants to prevent fatal accidents in the district.

Hoardings and billboards have been put up by the district authorities at Saputara and other tourist destinations. While Saputara has been declared a notified area, the entire Dang district is declared as a restricted area.

According to a report by France 24 in 2019, selfies killed five times more people than sharks between 2011 to 2017. India is considered ‘the selfie death capital of the world’ as India amounted to more than 60% of all deaths caused by clicking selfies during this period. As per the report, 259 deaths were caused due to clicking selfies in the world, out of which 159 were caused in India.

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