After remaining closed for about three weeks in the wake of the massive flood in Krishna river, Bhavani Island is getting opened for public from Friday onwards.
The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) has renovated the cottages and revived the basic amenities that have been damaged due to the massive flood waters that flowed into the Krishna upstream of Prakasam Barrage.
The island remained under water for eight days in the first week of this month and about an acre of land on the island was damaged due to soil erosion.
The APTDC officials have estimated that the loss incurred both at Haritha Berm Park and Bhavani Island due to the flood would be about Rs. 1 crore, while the operational loss must have been about Rs. 2 lakh a day for nearly a month.
APTDC Divisional Manager G. Ramakrishna told reporters in the island on Thursday that arrangements were being made for the guests, who would be coming to the island for ‘Karthika Vanasamaaraadhana’ during the auspicious ‘Karthika Masam.’
“We have renovated all the 24 cottages, two conference halls and four tree top cottages. Since the power supply is yet to be restored, we will be using generators. That is why we are not able to allow round-the-clock accommodation in the cottages,” he said. It would take at least a month to restore the power supply to the island.
Mr. Ramakrishna said the Haritha Berm Park was opened for public five days ago, where 24 out of 30 cottages were getting ready. “The remaining six cottages located on the ground floor need total renovation. We will complete the works very soon,” he said.
Artificial beach
Referring to the sheet of sand that got deposited near the jetty of the island, Mr. Ramakrishna said they were planning to create an artificial beach by making better use of the sand.
“Instead of dumping all the sand into the river and taking up some new construction, we are planning to create another tourist attraction here,” he said.
Mr. Ramakrishna said the proposal for laying a ropeway between Rajiv Gandhi Park and Kanakadurga temple atop Indakeeladri was under the consideration of the Endowments Department. Besides the Tourism and Endowments departments, the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation too was involved in the project.
