HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao on Thursday said that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had decided to accord Visakha Utsav a State festival status, in view of the overwhelming response from the people.

The Minister who handed over prizes to the winners of the raffle draw conducted as part of the Visakha Utsav at the Collectorate, announced that the Araku Balloon festival would be organised on January 18 and 19, followed by the yachting competitions slated for March 1 and 2.

Beach development

“The State government will soon constitute a Beach Development Authority for the promotion of beaches in Andhra Pradesh,” the Minister said.

At the prize giving ceremony, prizes worth ₹10.60 lakh were given away to the winners, with financial contribution from the CMR Group, Divis Labs, Vaibhav Jewellers and some other financial institutions.

The first prize – a Swift Dzire car – was bagged by M. Venkatesh of Payakaraopeta, while Simma Ramana of Anakapalle and Karri Prasanthi of Nadupuru bagged 50 gm gold chains each. Two Pulsar bikes were bagged by M. Tirupathi Rao of Srikakulam and P. Satya Rao of Atchutapuram.

The sixth winner of a Scooty could not be traced as he/she gave a wrong cellphone number.

If the winner fails to turn up in the next two days, another draw would be organised and a new winner would be chosen, the officials said.

District Revenue Officer C. Chandrasekhar Reddy, APTDC Regional Director Radhakrishna Murthy and District Tourism Officer Purnima Devi were present on the occasion.