AP to invite Union minister Kishan Reddy to inaugurate mega tourism projects

Visakhapatnam: Tourism minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao said the AP government will invite Union tourism minister G. Kishan Reddy to inaugurate some projects and lay the foundation stone for proposed mega projects in Visakhapatnam soon.

“Kishan Reddy himself volunteered to visit Vizag for the events,” minister Srinivasa Rao told DC here on Saturday.

He said Kishan Reddy will inaugurate the cruise jetty at Visakhapatnam Port and the development works at the Simhachalam temple which were taken up under the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD), a Central scheme.

The cruise terminal, the biggest in the country, was developed at a cost of Rs 96 crore of which 33 percent was paid by the state tourism ministry and rest by the Union ministry of shipping. Initially cruise ships would sail to Sri Lanka and Singapore in the first phase.

The minister said that under PRASAD a clay track was proposed to be laid around the Simhachalam hill on the lines of Arunachalam in Tamil Nadu for the convenience of the devotees who take up the ‘Giri Pradakshina’ on Gurupurnima Day. Srinivasa Rao said that the department had sought permission for Rs 70 crore worth development proposals at the temple and Rs 55 crore were sanctioned.

Among the other works, the minister said renovation works for the walking route to the temple from Madhavadhara to Simhachalam were being taken up. The construction of ghats as part of the Pushkarini development works, changing rooms, lighting and landscape, besides other works would be completed soon, the minister said.

Srinivasa Rao said the projects were discussed at the southern council meeting held at Bengaluru recently and the Cabinet approved many mega projects giving top priority to the tourism sector. The important projects include the tunnel aquarium proposed near Thotlakonda and Skytower.