Date:27/09/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/09/27/stories/2005092703291900.htm

Back Tourism infrastructure gets a boost in AP coastal districts

Our Bureau

Visakhapatnam , Sept. 26

THE Andhra Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation is developing infrastructure in a big way in the Visakhapatnam division comprising East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts.

A major park is coming up at Itchapuram in Srikakulam district and a 33-room coconut country resort at Razole in East Godavari is expected to be ready by May next year. Facilities are being increased in Visakhapatnam district.

At Punnami Beach Resort at Rushikonda near here, a three-storied block having 24 suites is getting ready in addition to the existing 33 suites.

The Rs. 1.5-crore extension building is expected to be completed in six months. The Punnami Hotel in the city will have a new roof-top garden restaurant and a conference hall. Its bar is being expanded and a lift is being provided, according to Mr P. Jeevan Prasad, Divisional Manager of APSTDC.

Another major project is the Rs. 3.5-crore hill resort coming up at Anantagiri, with 19 cottages facing the valley, along with a conference hall and a bar-and-restaurant.

The APSTDC is already running a 58-room Punnami Valley Resort at Araku Valley. Ayurvedic massage facility has been introduced recently.

Another facility at Araku, the Mayuri Hill Resort, will have more accommodation. A 65-room resort is under construction in two blocks at a cost of Rs 3.5 crore.

The APSTDC is planning to put into use some rooms by October-November (when the tourist season commences) at the Mayuri Hill Resort.

"When all the facilities are completed, we will boost our room strength from the existing 166 to 105 and will have an additional hotel, which will be the sixth, in the district," Mr Jeevan Prasad has said.

The Jungle Bells, the eco-friendly tourism project of the APSTDC at Tyda on the way to Araku, will have six more wooden cottages.

Coming up at a cost of Rs 25 lakh, two of the four air-conditioned cottages are expected to be ready in 10 days. Two more igloo cottages are also under construction.

The Visakhapatnam Division's transport wing has 13 buses, including two Volvo buses, mini vans and Qualis vans.