Facelift for Vizag's Borra Caves, Srikaulam's Baruva beach

Visakhapatnam: Finally, some good news for tourists. The state government on Tuesday accorded administrative sanction to the AP Tourism Development Corporation Limited (APTDC) to upgrade the existing illumination at Borra Caves and provide it with a new look by this summer.
The upgradation work will be taken up on a priority basis as part of the Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Tourism Promotion (DIFTP) programme for the current fiscal.
The administrative sanction was issued for six tourism projects in the state at a cost of Rs 5.5 crore. The Borra Caves' project will cost Rs 1.5 crore. The first illumination of the Borra Caves was laid by former tourism minister of AP J Geetha Reddy in November 1992. K Pradeep Chandra was collector of Visakhapatnam district at the time. Since then, the illumination has not been upgraded. Responding to the grievances and feedback from the tourists, the state government gave the green signal to the tourism department to go ahead with the project.
Borra Caves is located in the Ananthagiri agency mandal in Vizag Agency. The caves, one of the largest in the country, is located at an elevation of about 2,300 feet above mean sea level. The average depth of the caves is 262 feet.
Apart from this, the Baruva beach in Srikakulam district will also be developed under the DIFTP programme at a cost of Rs 50 lakh. The corporation proposed the Baruva beach development in 2014 as part of its efforts to attract tourists to Srikakulam. The beach development includes construction of beach resorts at some ideal locations.
When contacted, a senior official from the APTDC said that the four other tourism works along with the Borra Caves and Baruva beach are beach front development at Odarevu in Prakasam district for Rs 1 crore, jetty and infrastructure development at Sunkesula reservoir at Kurnool district for Rs 1 crore, jetty and tourist infrastructure development at Somasila reservoir in Nellore district for Rs 1 crore and jetty infrastructure upgradation at Kandaleru reservoir in Nellore district for Rs 50 lakhs.
"The government instructed our tourism commissioner and APTDC vice-chairman and managing director to finish the works as early as possible as per rules and the department heads were requested to send the compliance report to the government time to time," the official said while quoting a GO RT No 3 issued on Tuesday by the state government.