VIJAYAWADA: The process of bringing back Bhavani Island to its former glory will be slow and steady, in order to minimise loss if a flood-like situation occurs again, said Minister of Tourism, Culture and Youth Advancement Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao on his visit to the island on Tuesday. He said, although the complete restoration work will take another three to four months, the island would be partially opened for tourists from September 1. Electricity will also be restored by then.
Taking stock of the situation, he said, “Loss has been estimated at Rs 2 crore. This includes revenue and property loss. The officials are making efforts to repair the musical fountain, pathways and landscapes which have suffered the maximum damage”.“Since this is an island, there are chances of recurrence of the flood-like situation. We will take the help of experts under the public-private partnership model with respect to rebuilding permanent structures in such a way that they can be dismantled and built again easily,” he added.
Appropriate steps were being taken to increase the annual profit earned through the island to Rs 5 crore from the existing Rs 3 crore, he added. “A budget of Rs 167 crore has been allotted for the Andhra Pradhesh Tourism Authority (APTA), AP Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) and Bhavani Island Development Corporation (BIDC). The aim behind expanding the tourism sector gradually is to come up with strong and long-lasting things so that the taxpayers’ money does not go to waste. We will only come up with what is viable,” the minister said.
Citing the example of Mumbai he said, “We should learn from the situation Mumbai faces every year during the rainy season. Taking lessons from Mumbai, we have to work hard for our capital construction as it should be a safe place for the future generation.”Later, addressing the media, he told about some upcoming projects of the department. The tourism department was working out a plan to start a rope-way from Kanaka Durga temple to Berm Park. “We are planning to come up with this facility so that tourists can experience a rope-way as well as traffic management becomes easy,” he opined.
APTA CEO and APTDC managing director Pravin Kumar said that the authorities have also planned new spiritual, adventure and eco-tour packages, which are expected to start shortly. Speaking about the ongoing dispute with the Railways over APTDC’s compartment in the Kirandul Express and about the irregularities in the funds used for constant repairs at Punnami Ghat and at the island, the minister said, “We are trying to resolve the issue.
As there is a great demand for the rail-route from Visakhapatnam to Aaraku, we have told them to, either have a separate train or to increase the number of compartments in the existing Kirandul Express. We are negotiating with the officials from the railway department. Regarding the irregularities, the matter will be investigated and nobody, if found guilty, will be spared.”