More Tourists From Hyderabad Likely to Visit Papikondalu in Next Three Days

Vijayawada: A large turnout of tourists mainly from Hyderabad is expected at the popular tourism destination, Papikondalu, after they have darshan at Lord Rama at the Bhadrachalam temple in the next three days.

As Thursday is a new moon day, some tourists did not venture out to tourist attractions. This time was considered inauspicious. Moreover, as the people participated in the Ugadi festival, they stayed put at home celebrating the occasion and relishing in the famous Ugadi Pachadi.

The tourists are expected to set sail on the Godavari river to Papikondalu from Friday to enjoy the beauty of nature along the curvaceous river course.

The presence of fully grown crocodiles basking under the Sun, by perching themselves on the rocks and also on the sand dunes, has become a major attraction to the tourists. The presence of crocodiles in the Godavari river is a recent phenomenon. The heavy floods in the river in 2022, and the filling up of all the projects with floodwater to the brim helped young crocodiles find their way into the river.

In the last few years, they have grown to full size. Moreover, with the construction of the spillway of the Polavaram project and the river water getting stored in a reservoir, traditional fishing activity by the boatmen has come down. This resulted in the availability of plenty of fish, which helped the crocodiles to feed on them and grow bigger.

So far, no case of attack by the crocodiles on tourists in Papikondalu area has been reported. This indicated that the environs at the tourist destination are safe.

There exist 21 private tourist boats apart from the one that belongs to the AP Tourism Development Corporation at Pochavaram. Normally, one or two tourist boats are operated, transporting nearly 120 to 140 tourists from Pochavaram to Papikondalu per day. During the weekends and holidays, 400 to 500 tourists visit Papikondalu in four to five boats.

For the next three days from March 20, expectations are that over 1,000 tourists would visit Papikondalu in eight to 10 boats per day.

Meanwhile, tourists are seeking more amenities like ghats, washrooms, restaurants and hotels to help stay put for more than a day.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu recently announced several ambitious tourism projects for Papikondalu with attractions like river cruises, boating, eco-tourism resorts and a host of other activities before the conduct of the Godavari Pushkaralu in June, 2027.

Boat owner P. Sudarshan said, “We are expecting a good number of tourists from Hyderabad to visit Papikondalu this weekend and even in the summer vacation once the ongoing exams are over.”