Andhra Pradesh: With drop in temperature, tourists flock to Visakha agency area

VISAKHAPATNAM: Temperatures in Lammasingi on Chintapalli ghat road dropped to below 10 degrees Celsius for the past four days. This has led to the entire Visakha agency area shivering under chilling cold conditions, attracting the tourists from not only from Visakhapatnam district but also different parts of AP and neighboring Odisha and Chhattisgarh states.
A thick blanket of fog covered entire Visakha agency. After the learning through social media, youths from not only Vizag district but also other parts of the state are flocking to the Lammasingi, Araku, Borra, Paderu and other tourist spots in the tribal belt.
The Regional Agriculture Research Station (RARS) at Chintapalli recorded 9 degrees Celsius on Wednesday and 8.2 Degrees on Tuesday, which is lowest, recorded at Chintapalli in this season. The mercury levels will dip further in the coming couple of weeks.
“The severe cold conditions are prevailing for the past one week and tourists’ number was also increased recently. Due to Covid conditions, people have not shown interest to come here. But the number has increased in the past one week,” a local Daya Sankar said.
Lammasingi is located more than 3,600 feet above the sea level and records naturally two to three Celsius lower than the Chintapalli. Generally, the temperature at Lammasingi drops to below 5 degrees in the months of December-January. For the past one week, commuters were forced to use headlight to get a clear vision on the roads as the Sun is not visible till 11 am. Weekly markets are starting at 12 noon against the regular timing of 10 am.
According to Chintapalli Agricultural Research Centre, from December 1 onwards, Chintapalli recorded 11 degrees Celsius and it was 13 on December 4. After that temperatures were dropped as it was 11 on December 7 and 8 on Tuesday. Tuesday it was 9 degrees Celsius. As per the locals, Lammasingi would record two degrees lower than what Chintapalli records every day.
The tiny villages Lammasingi and Tajangi are witnessing jam packed traffic even in the midnight. There was demand for the tents arranged in the private sites. Dense fog and cold weather conditions are prevailing at Araku, Anantagiri and Paderu also, attracting the tourists.