Visakhapatnam celebrates Republic Day with great gusto

Visakhapatnam: Amid flag hoisting, cultural programmes, parades, tableaux, events, spectacular feats and lectures that brought out the essence of patriotism in myriad forms, the 72nd Republic Day was celebrated with great gusto in Visakhapatnam.

Tableaux of various departments and their respective welfare schemes drew the attention of the audience at the Republic Day celebrations organised at the city police parade grounds on Tuesday.

Unfurling the tricolour, District Collector V Vinay Chand briefed the development and welfare schemes being implemented in the district. Outstanding officers and employees from various departments walked away with appreciation certificates. Marking the occasion, students performed an enticing cultural show.

City Police Commissioner Manish Kumar Sinha, District Superintendent of Police B Krishna Rao, GVMC Commissioner G Srijana, Additional Commissioner Asha Jyoti, VMRDA Commissioner P Koteswara Rao, Additional Commissioner Manjir Jilani Samoon, Joint Collectors M Venugopal Reddy, among others participated in the celebrations. While Visakhapatnam Range DIG LKV Ranga Rao unfurled the tricolour at his office, SP Krishna Rao hoisted the flag at his camp office.

GVMC

Hoisting the flag at corporation premises, Municipal Commissioner G Srijana said Visakhapatnam city will be developed as a garbage-free city. Explaining the projects, she said 1,978 works are in progress at a cost of Rs 303 crore in GVMC jurisdiction. This apart, the Union government has allotted Rs 1,000 crore for 61 project works under the smart city project in the first phase. Meanwhile, VMRDA Commissioner P Koteswara Rao unfurled the tricolour to mark the celebrations.

APEPDCL

The 72nd R-Day was celebrated with grandeur at APEPDCL corporate office. Unfurling the tri-colour, Chairman and Managing Director of the APEPDCL Nagalakshmi Selvarajan appealed to the employees to dedicate themselves to the development of the organisation by discharging their responsibilities.

Speaking further, she said the government has enhanced free power to 200 units from 100 units to 7.8 lakh SC/ST communities, spending Rs 180 crore. The tariff of power was reduced from Rs 2.00 to 1.50 per unit to 26,447 aqua farmers. Of the 8,810 registered, 5,179 agricultural connections were released this financial year and the rest will be cleared soon, the CMD informed.

Nagalakshmi mentioned that the State government has decided to introduce YSR agricultural electricity cash transfer scheme with an intention of reaching out to the farmers. Visakhapatnam is the first city in Andhra Pradesh where underground cabling works are being undertaken in 23 sub-station jurisdictions at a cost of Rs 720 crore, the CMD said.

Waltair Division

Marking the R-Day celebrations of the Waltair Division of the East Coast Railway, Railway Protection Force commandos performed daredevil motorcycle riding display and other attractions were sniffer dog feats by dog squad, pyramid show by scouts and guides. Speaking on the occasion, Divisional Railway Manager, Waltair, Chetan Kumar Shrivastava said division bagged 11 shields for the best performance. Despite challenges induced by coronavirus, the DRM said, the division overcame all odds and showed good performance in the last quarter of 2020-21.

Eastern Naval Command

At Eastern Naval Command (ENC), a ceremonial parade was held at INS Circars. Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, ENC Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain took the salute, inspected a 50-man armed guard and later reviewed the twelve platoons comprising naval personnel drawn from all ships, submarines, establishments, and Defence Security Corps. As part of the R-Day celebrations, all naval ships at Visakhapatnam were also 'dressed overall' with various signal flags displayed from their main mast to the front and rear flag poles.

HSL

Maintaining Covid-19 protocol, Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) celebrated the R-Day with enthusiasm at Dolphin Jetty. In his address, Chairman and Managing Director of HSL Cmde Hemant Khatri (Retd) gave a call to the employees for rejuvenation and transformation of HSL. He said that as employees of HSL, the singular act of patriotism and nation building will be to deliver vessels on time with the best of quality and safety standards.

VPT

Chairman of Visakhapatnam Port Trust K Ramamohana Rao unfurled the tricolour and took the Rastriya salami presented by the contingents of CISF at the port stadium. The Chairman said the port played a vital role in times of the pandemic and relentless efforts of the employees resulted in uninterrupted supply of essential commodities throughout the country. Further, he added that the VPT will consider all measures to increase the cargo handling and mechanisation of berths during the financial year 2020-21.

VCT

As a part of the celebrations, guard of honour was given by security team Plato and fire rescue teams at Visakha Container Terminal (VCT). Its Deputy Chief Operating Officer Anil Narayanan hoisted the Flag. VCT employees with families witnessed the celebrations.

DCI

Managing Director of the Dredging Corporation of India Ltd (DCI) Rajesh Tripathi unfurled the national flag at its corporate office before delivering the Republic Day message. Tripathi recollected the supreme sacrifice made by the freedom fighters and paid homage to the architects of the Constitution of India.

Prevent corona tableau

Unfurling the tricolour, RINL CMD PK Rath said the Forged Wheel Plant at Rae Bareli is inching towards completion and expected to be commissioned by February. He appreciated the employees for showcasing immense resilience in adversity and emerging victorious in the combat against Covid-19. Director (Personnel) KC Das, Director (Finance) VV Venu Gopal Rao and Director (Projects) KK Ghosh, among others took part in the celebrations that included a coronavirus awareness programme through a tableau 'prevent corona'. The CISF fire wing special commandos showcased their skills and demonstrated tricolour water jets.

GITAM

Hoisting the national flag on GITAM campus, Vice-Chancellor K Sivaramakrishna recalled the achievements of the institution during the last year and called upon the faculty and the students to work towards making the institution become one of the top institutions in the world. Parade carried out by the National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets and impressive performances by the team of the Kalakruthi Club, among other events formed part of the celebrations.

VIGNAN

Vignan Institute of Information and Technology celebrated the R-Day with enthusiasm. Former Joint Director of CBI VV Lakshminarayana addressed the gathering. Institution's Rector V Madhusudhan Rao and Principal B Arundathi took part in the celebrations.

Meanwhile, Additional Director, National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics, B Sumidaa Devi laid emphasis on being good citizens and exhorted the girls at PAPA Home to be financially independent.