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Recreational front - City’s pitiful shortcoming
With the capital region coming up near the city, lack of necessary recreational areas in Vijayawada is glaringly obvious.
With the capital region coming up near the city, lack of necessary recreational areas in Vijayawada is glaringly obvious. If the tourism department concentrates on building leisure spots, it would be beneficial not just for the city but also its youth
Given, the city is a business hub and a political nerve centre of Andhra Pradesh. However, it is lagging behind on the leisure front. Over the years, the tourism potential of Vijayawada has been left untapped. Now with the capital region is coming up in the vicinity there is an urgent need to address the issue by developing spots for recreation and entertainment zones.
Cinema is still the only major source of entertainment for the people. Despite Kondapalli and Kondaveedu forts, several ancient temples and Buddhist heritage sites being located in the region, they do not have proper amenities to attract tourists in large numbers.
In Visakhapatnam, there is the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park, while the pilgrim town Tirupati has Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park. Vijayawada, though, does not have one. The picturesque Bhavani Island in the middle of the Krishna River is the only major tourist attraction.
The lack of recreational areas is even more conspicuous whenever a major sports tournament, a national meet or some other event is held in the city, as the participants have very few options to spend their spare time. The drawback is likely to have an adverse impact on the image of Vijayawada in the future.
“The biggest hurdle to promote leisure activity in the city is non-availability of adequate land. Hence, focus should be laid on overcoming the hurdle. The promoters should come up with innovative projects to make the city a major leisure hub,” said an official of the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation.
Hence, the State government should focus on sprucing up its tourist attractions and creating space for new recreational areas in the city and the capital region as it helps generate considerable employment for the local youth, besides giving a boost to tourism.
By: Ch Sowmya Sruthi
