Vizag to develop beach road under smart city project.

The Visakhapatnam beach road from to Bhimli will be developed at a cost of Rs. 200 crore to promote tourism as a part of the smart city project, according to municipal commissioner Pravin Kumar.

He told the media recently that the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) wanted the citizens to participate in the project and give their suggestions and designs for developing the beach road and the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) park. The top three entries on beach road development would get prizes of Rs. 1.25 lakh, Rs. 75,000 and Rs. 50,000. The top three entries on VUDA park would get Rs. 75,000, Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 25,000. Entries can be submitted up to August 5.

On the question of beach erosion, the commissioner said it was a serious problem but it would take two year or so for the National Institute of Ocean Technology and the Netherlands consultancy firm, Deltares, to complete the studies on the subject. Only after submission of the report, it would be possible to decide whether beach nourishment would be sufficient or some structural intervention is required. However, interim measures were being taken by the Visakhaptnam port trust such as beach nourishment to mitigate the problem, he added.

HBL