Sports venue turned into helipad at Rushikonda palace
A view of land allotted to SAAP which was replaced as a helipad at Rushikonda hills in Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam: By demolishing a revenue-generating APTDC’s resort, the then YSRCP government built a palace at Rushikonda hills, investing Rs 450 crore.
Along with violating environmental norms and splurging public money, the previous government also converted the land allotted for sports activities into a helipad.
To facilitate it, the land allotted to Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) adjacent to Rushikonda Beach in Visakhapatnam was taken aback by the previous government.
In 2002, the then Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu allocated an acre of land for the management of watersports in the area. Since then, the watersports association and federations organised a number of competitions in the stretch in collaboration with the SAAP.
Also, helipad tourism was also introduced back then. This apart, the sailing and other competitions were organised here by the personnel of the Indian Navy.
Later, when the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government came to power in 2019, it kept broaching about the three-capital proposal right from the start. As part of it, it decided to convert the designated site allotted to the SAAP for giving way to the helipad for Jagan’s palace.
When the YSRCP eyed the site, the district sports officials and sportsmen were informed overnight to vacate the place. Since then, watersports and other sports activities came to a grinding halt in the city.
The Rs 450 crore-project along with facilitating the helipad turned out to be a curse for the sports enthusiasts. Sharing further details, SAAP chairman Animini Ravi Naidu mentioned that SAAP is taking the land acquired by the Jagan’s government back. “The former CM took the bold step with an assumption that he’s certain to be the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for the rest of his life. The conversion of site into a helipad will be brought to the notice of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and soon the land will be retrieved back,” he informed, adding that watersports will be re-launched in the city next.
Further, talking about the extent of corruption that went in the garb of Audham Andhra introduced by the YSRCP, Ravi Naidu mentioned that those involved in corruption will not be spared.
Once the land gets reallotted to the SAAP, sports activities are expected to gain pace at Rushikonda beach again.