Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is scheduled declare open Viskaha Utsav here on Friday, will also inaugurate and lay foundation stones for a string of developmental projects undertaken by Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMDRA) and Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) at a cost of around ₹1,285 crore.
Natural history park
Among the VMRDA projects is Natural History Park and Museum Research Institute proposed to be set up at Kapuluppada at a cost of ₹88 crore. The Centre will contribute ₹38 crore for the natural history park project, VMRDA Chiarman Dronamraju Srinivasa Rao told the media here on Friday.
A Regional Science Centre and Planetarium involving an expenditure of ₹37 crore will come up atop Kailasagiri. The other projects for which stones will be laid includes Integrated Museum and Tourism Complex including Submarine Heritage Museum, decommissioned Sea Harrier and underground parking (₹40 crore), and a commercial complex and multi-level parking at Siripuram (₹80 crore), restoration and redevelopment of 360-acre Kailasagiri hilltop park (₹56.55 crore), Master Plan Road from Appannapalem Junction to APSEZ entrance gate at Pudimadaka (₹27.13 crore); development of Atchyutapuram Junction, Pudimadaka, Anakapalle and Elamanchili road (₹15.21 crore), Master Plan roads from Law College road to Beach Road (₹7.5 crore), road from the NH Junction to Beach Road via Visakha Valley School (₹5.93 crore) and construction of commercial complex at Ramnagar (₹13.5 crore).
“The VMRDA has earmarked ₹379.82 crore for the projects. The projects are being undertaken to attract more tourists to the city and transform it into a knowledge centre,” said Mr. Srinivasa Rao.
The Chief Minister will inaugurate a flower show being organised by the VMRDA at a cost of ₹60 lakh at the Central Park as a part of Visakha Utsav.
Metropolitan Commissioner P. Koteswara Rao claimed that the natural history park would be the first-of-its-kind facility in the country and the project is being supported by the Natural History Society of India. “It may take three years for completion of the project. Efforts will be put in to complete components such as bio-diversity park, oceanography centre and etc in a time-bound manner. The planetarium will come up with hybrid technology and is expected to be completed in one-and-a-half years,” he said.
Water connections
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy will also launch water connections given to 35,000 households under the AMRUT scheme. He will lay foundation stones for a number of GVMC projects and inaugurate some, all costing ₹905 crore.
Among them are roads, drains, new pipelines, bio-mining at Kapuluppada dumpyard, beautification and sporting facilities costing ₹433 crore, redevelopment of RK Beach and shore protection (₹109 crore) and social infrastructure development in municipal schools (₹52 crore).