VMRDA set to develop ocean deck in Visakhapatnam

Visakhapatnam Drawing inspiration from the success of two sea viewing decks built in Mumbai, Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Urban Development Authority (VMRDA) has decided to develop an ocean deck at the erstwhile MGM Theme Park overlooking the magnificent sea to give the locals and tourists a 360-degree view of the majestic Bay of Bengal.

The project, which received the approval of the board recently, envisages the construction of a deck having a 100 metres length with half of it in the sea and the rest on the shore after getting clearance under Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) regulations.

"Our plan meant to give a boost to tourism by developing a hotel on the ground floor and a view tower atop will be completed by year-end as we are making arrangements to finalise the blueprint and call for tenders at the earliest," VMRDA Joint Commissioner V Rangaiah said.

The first seaview deck was thrown open to the public in Mumbai at Dadar Shore Area in February on a storm water location a year ago. Soon the second one was developed at Girgaon Chowpatty. Maharashtra Government has plans to develop such viewing decks at 40 locations as part of beautification of India's financial capital.

VMRDA, the largest urban planning body in Andhra Pradesh, is keen on grounding several projects in Visakhapatnam after the State Government declared it as the executive capital. For developing the ocean deck, VMRDA has earmarked an amount of Rs7.8 crore. The project’s location is adjacent to VMRDA Park (erstwhile VUDA Park) and the site at present is lying vacant and being given for hosting marriages functions/social parties close to the waterfront area after the theme park management abandoned the amusement park. Lighthouse, another tourist attraction, is close to the proposed ocean deck area.

Convention centres

To give a fillip to MICE tourism, VMRDA Board also approved proposals to build a separate 1,000 convention centre at Pendurthi and Yendada in the city. While the Pendurthi project will cost Rs41 crore, the Yendada convention centre will be built with an outlay of Rs6.87 crore.

The VMRDA Board also cleared the proposal after preparing DPR for setting up a Natural History Park and Museum Research Centre at a cost of Rs88 crore to the State Government. The urban development authority has also taken up work on eight master plan roads on a fast-track mode. VMRDA is also monitoring on a regular basis the progress of constructing 11-floor multilevel car parking project costing Rs80 crore near its head office as the city is experiencing acute shortage of public parking for those frequenting the beach road and posh areas like Pandurangapuram and Siripuram. This will be the largest public parki ng lot in AP. The project is planned to have five floors with a plinth area of 1.90 lakh sqft for parking of 430 cars and 400 two-wheelers. Shops, offices and commercial spaces will be allotted in six floors with a built up area of 1.64 lakh sqft.