Nobel laureate Michael Levitt and fellow tourists visiting Kuttanad had a harrowing experience on Wednesday after the houseboat in which they were travelling was blocked by supporters of the nationwide general strike at R Block near here.
Professor Levitt, an American-British-Israeli biophysicist, and others, started cruising in the houseboat from Kumarakom in Kottayam on Tuesday. They reached R Block on Tuesday evening. When the houseboat set sail again at 10 a.m on Wednesday, strike supporters blocked it and prevented them from cruising along the backwaters.
The houseboat was later allowed to sail around 12.30 p.m. The houseboat operator said that Mr. Levitt was seen to be very upset following the incident.
Mr. Levitt received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2013 for the development of multi-scale models for complex chemical systems. He is among the first researchers to conduct molecular dynamics simulations of DNA and proteins, and to develop the first software for the purpose.
Earlier, the coordination committee of trade unions that called the general strike against the Union government’s labour policies had said that the tourism industry would be exempted.
