New firing range to be set up at Anandapuram

Visakhapatnam: The police firing range, which is located near Kapuluppada area on the outskirts of the city, would be closed as the government has decided to develop the world class IT City on the lines of Cyberabad in Hyderabad at Kapuluppada area. 

Now the city police are searching for a suitable place to set up the firing range. It may be recalled that the police department in the city owns a firing range of around 12 acres at Kapuluppada area.

The police department firing range had catered to the needs of the police personnel of both City Police Commissionerate as well as Rural Police  besides the National Cadet Corps (NCC of three wings), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and others.

According to sources, Kapuluppada hill has around 1,400 acres of land and recently the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) got permission from the police department to lay the approach road.  Though the police department had hesitated initially about giving permission, later they finally gave its nod for the expansion of the IT SEZ at Kapuluppada.

Sources also said that out of 1,400 acres, around 500 acres would come into utilisation at Kapuluppada area in the first phase. The government plans to accommodate around 100 companies in the area to convert the hill into the next IT Hub in the state.

A senior police officer from the City Police Commissionerate said that the following the complaints from the APIIC, they shut down the police firing range at Kapuluppada area. “We are chalking out plans to shift the firing range to another area on the outskirts of the city,” the officer said.

A new police firing range would be developed at Anandapuram area on the outskirts of the city. The department officials had approached the revenue officials to allocate a piece of land for the firing range. “Once we get the land, the firing range would be developed on a war-footing basis, said another senior police officer. 

By Phani Suni