Tourist spots abuzz with picknickers in undivided Visakhapatnam

A large number of people thronging at R.K Beach as part of ‘Karthika Masam’ celebrations, in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: V. RAJU

/PADERU

Tourist places in undivided Visakhapatnam witnessed mad rush, as people flocked the place as part of the on-going ‘Karthika Masam’, here on Sunday. People thronged the beaches, parks, while tourist from in and around the city thronged the Agency areas, resulting in some of the hotspots like Vanjangi recording highest footfall in this season so far.

R.K Beach, Tenneti Park, Kailasagiri, VMRDA Park, Rushikonda, Bheemunipatnam, Indira Gandhi Zoological Park (IGZP), Kambalakonda and other places witnessed huge rush since morning. People of all ages were seen engaged in fun events like ‘tambola’, anthakshari’, kabaddi, organised games among other activities. Picnickers were seen taking selfie. IGZP itself registered a tourist footfall of 6,509 visitors generating a revenue of ₹5.10 lakh on a single day.

City roads, especially the Beach Road stretch between Rushikonda to Naval Coastal Battery witnessed traffic rush.

High footfall in Vajangi

Vanjangi, which is also called as ‘Meghala Konadalu’ in Paderu mandal, famous for its scenic sunrise view points, registered a footfall of around 3,500 visitors on Sunday, as per officials from the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) Paderu.

Tourists from various districts thronged Vanjangi during the wee hours of Sunday, while many took shelter in tented accommodations down the hill. Visitors started to trek from the early hours to view the sunrise. As per the officials, this is the first time such a huge rush has been witnessed this year.

Most of the tourist spots in Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) district started receiving good number of visitors from the past few days. The dip in the heat in Agency area is said to be the main reason for this tourists’ influx. For the last few days, areas like Chintapalli, Paderu, Minumuluru, Vanjangi and a few other spots have been recording minimum temperatures ranging between 15C and 18C.

Visitors have been thronging view points at Lambasingi, Madagada near Araku Valley, waterfalls at Kothapalli, Chaparai and Katika. Chaparai, one of the noted waterfalls in Dumbriguda mandal recorded 2,724 visitors on Sunday alone. As most of the hotels are in the valley, there is a huge demand for tented accommodation.