VIJAYAWADA: Bhavani Island, the popular tourist destination in Vijayawada was severely affected damaging the infrastructure and fixtures by recent floods as it remained submerged for over 20 days the Bhavani Island Tourism Corporation (BITC) officials are confident of bringing the island park back to its form and shine.
The island’s structures were inundated in 11.5 feet, much more than the 3.5 feet of 2019 floods, and the once lush park is slithering with mud and sand. Sanitation workers along with experts and machines have begun the clean-up task. The restoration may take time. Berm Park, the tourism office near the main entrance at Bhavanipuram, and other structures were fully damaged.
The island park spread is 132 of the total 620 acres wears a look of despair. The parks, hotels, and equipment, including furniture, fans, air conditioners, motors, cycles, and battery vehicles, were heavily damaged. Although speedboats and mechanized boats were safe, they require further assessment. Most ground-floor setups were destroyed. Notably, the 150-meter sheet piling area survived the floods, prompting experts to expand the technology to reduce future flood impact.
BITC developed Mirror Maze, Maze Garden, Robotic Park, Game Zone, Open Gym, pathways, landscaping, selfie points, and Virtual Cricket, when former Executive Director G Umamaheswara Rao served as ED for BITC to attract tourists.
BITC officials, who inspected the spot, observed extensive damage to structures and outdoor equipment, including musical instruments, battery cars, the RO plant, the electronic gaming zone, the glass restaurant, toilets, signage, playground equipment, food courts, substations, panel boards, pathway lights, spotlights, and underground cables.
Speaking to TNIE, AAL Padmavathi, Executive Director of BITC said that they are taking all the measures to restore the Island park to be more attractive than earlier for the convenience of the tourists. The estimated loss was about `10 crores and we already sent the proposals