Tourism Minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao on Wednesday said that measures would be taken to ensure early completion of the ongoing tourisms projects and added that notices would be issued to those who fail to commence work after bagging contracts for various works in the district.
The Minister held a review meeting with officials from revenue, police, sports, and tourism departments at the Government Circuit House here on Wednesday. Officials from NHAI also attended the meeting.
Speaking to reporters, the Minister said that there were 10 ongoing tourism projects in the the district, including in the Agency area. While projects were being constructed in an extent of 60 acres, another 300 acres of land acquired for other projects was still available.
“Some of the contractors who bagged contracts have failed to start work. Notices would be sent to them and after giving sufficient time, the contracts would be cancelled. The government would invite new investors by giving approvals in a transparent manner,” Mr. Srinivasa Rao said.
Tourism projects worth ₹280 crore sanctioned by the Government of India were pending, he said. These include the Araku Eco-Tourism project, construction of jetties at Bheemunipatnam, Kalingapatnam and Kakinada, development of a Buddhist circuit and the ‘Prasadam project’ for improvement of amenities at temples like Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Simhachalam.
“We will approach the Union Minister of Tourism in a week and seek his cooperation for early completion of the projects,” he said.
Mr. Srinivasa Rao said that steps would be taken to ensure that Visa-on-Arrival facility was extended to Visakhapatnam International airport. Hyderabad and Chennai already have this facility. This was essential to attract international tourists as the city has several tourist attractions like beach resorts, the Minister said.
“An extent of 150 acres of land was proposed to be acquired in the district for promotions of sports and to provide housing. Already, 80 acres of land has been acquired. A stadium along the lines of the Gachibowli stadium would be built at the Aganampudi tri-junction,” he said.
SIT report
The Minister said that the SIT report on the land scam in Visakhapatnam district would be reopened, if necessary, and added that the culprits would be punished irrespective of their position or political affiliation.
Replying to queries, he said that genuine victims who lost their land in the scam could approach the new Collector during the Monday grievance programme and seek justice. To another query on the fate of the Lulu project, he said that the new government was not against development and that it only wants to ensure that the State is not deprived of revenue in order to favour investors.
