VISAKHAPATNAM: The tourist and picnic spots in the city and district witnessed huge rush on the last Sunday of the auspicious ‘Karteeka Maasam’ during which families and friends make it a point to spend a day-out together in the shade of trees.
The Indira Gandhi Zoological Park (IGZP) attracted the highest-ever number of visitors on a single day. A total of 27,188 people visited the zoo on Sunday and the revenue collections amounted to Rs.5.28 lakh, according to Zoo Curator Vijaya Kumar.
There was not much impact of demonetisation on the zoo as a vast majority of the visitors came prepared with smaller denomination notes. Further, they came in large groups and they had no problem with small change, he said.
Last Sunday, a total of 23,933 people visited the zoo and the revenue collection was Rs.4,61,320, according to the Assistant Curator Mashaddy.
The Borra Caves witnessed unprecedented crowd with vehicles lined up on either side of the road leading to the caves for over a km on Sunday. “Many returned without seeing the caves as they had no way of entering the caves. The parking of vehicles on either side added to the chaos on the road. The vehicle parking at the caves is barely enough to park about 25 vehicles,” said Srinivas Ganjivarapu, who visited the place on Sunday.
“I accompanied an American tourist Kim from Los Angeles, who was keen on visiting the million-year-old caves, but she decided to return after tasting ‘bamboo chicken’ after seeing the ‘disorderly crowd’. There were a number of tourists from West Bengal and Odisha. The police were few and the crowd seemed ‘unmanageable’,” he said.
Araku Valley too witnessed a large number of tourists including those who went for picnic on the last Sunday of Karteeka Maasam.
Tourists, who came from far-off places, also did not seem to have any trouble due to demonetisation as they made their hotel bookings in advance and they carried enough cash on hand to meet their food and other day-to-day expenditure.
The impact of demonetisation was felt in the first week but now tourists are fully geared. The AP Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) is preparing to install Point of Sale (PoS) machines at its hotels and guest houses in the district in a week.
