In a good news to the adventure lovers in the city, a skydiving facility will be set up at Rushikonda if the grandiose plans of the Tourism Department materialise.
“Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC), in association with the Rajasthan-based Aero Sports Adventure Club, will set up a skydiving school in the city. The school will offer skydiving training to adventure lovers,” AP Tourism Authority CEO Himanshu Shukla said on the sidelines of the IATO conference here, on Thursday.
The APTDC will support the adventure club by providing some infrastructure. The project has already been finalised, he added.
Wayside amenities
Giving details about the other project in the pripeline, he said 54 locations had been identified across the National Highways and other roads in the State for provision of ‘wayside amenities’.
“Tenders have already been called for development at five locations under the PPP mode. They include the tourist spot at Erramatti Dibbalu, Yarada and at Mangamaripeta. In the next one year, wayside amenities would be developed at 40 to 50 locations in the State,” Mr. Shukla said.
Referring to water sports, he said a facility will be developed at Chintapalli near Bhogapuram in Vizianagaram district. The major attraction for tourists will be the Goliath fish, an endangered species, which is abundantly available in the coastal waters at Chintapalli.
Buddhist heritage sites
The APTDC, with the support of Livein Adventures of Visakhapatnam, has set up a scuba diving academy and it will be operational from November this year, he added.
A total of 10 Buddhist heritage sites, five in North Andhra- Thotalkonda, Bhavikonda, Salihundam and Bojjannakonda and five in the capital region at Amaravati region would be developed jointly by the State Archaeology Department and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Mr. Shukla said.
The Centre has given ₹30 crore to the State Archaeology Department and around ₹3 crore would be spent on each project for development of basic amenities such as interpretation centres and other tourist amenities, he added.