Tourism activity picks up momentum in East Godavari

Kakinada: Extension of facilities for tourism development under Swadesh Darshan is at various stages of completion in East Godavari. The programme has been taken up to promote tourism at six identified places with Rs 69 crore in the district.
The identified places under tourism development are NTR beach in Kakinada rural mandal, Hope Island, Coringa mangroves in Kakinada suburbs, Pasarlapudi, Adurru and Kotipalli in the district.

Rs 80 lakh is being spent on deepening of sea by two meters at NTR beach to promote boat tourism. As far as Hope island and Coringa mangroves are concerned, seven crore rupees is being spent on construction of basic facilities such as roads, waiting huts, and other facilities with special attention being paid to environmental issues as these two areas come under forest department where top priority is given to environment factor.

As fast as Adurru is concerned, the Buddha monument in the area stands as major tourist attraction. Pasarlapudi is also being developed for its picturesque and natural beauty. As far as Kotipalli is concerned, infrastructural facilities are being developed to suit the needs of tourists. Akhanda Godavari Tourism project executive engineer Srinivasa Rao said that as far as Hope Island and Coringa Mangroves are concerned, the works are going at slower pace because of involvement of environmental factor with forest department clearance from time to time.

As far as Adurru is concerned, we have taken up the development of tourist amenities with the consent of Archeological Survey of India, the executive engineer said. We are hoping to complete the activity under Swadesh Darshan by the end of this year, the executive engineer clarified.