The Godavari Urban Development Authority (GUDA) on Saturday began the work on setting up of an aircraft museum on the Kakinada beach and it is expected to be ready by the end of the year.
The aircraft, TU 142 M, which was decommissioned in March 2017 at INS Rajali Naval Air Station at Arakkonam in Tamil Nadu and which served for 29 years with the Indian Navy, is being converted into a museum here at the Aircraft Beach Park in Kakinada.
Tenders invited
“After the Indian Navy gave its go-ahead for the proposed museum, we earmarked a three-acre site for the project and invited tenders to transport the aircraft from Arakkonam to Kakinada by road,” GUDA Vice-Chairman R. Amarendra Kumar said.
Mr. Amarendra Kumar added that the refurbishment and installation of the aircraft, involving the technical crew from Visakhapatnam and Tamil Nadu, would be completed within three months, throwing it for the public by the end of 2020.
“The project includes an audiovisual museum that will explain to visitors the importance and functioning of the TU 142 M aircraft and the services to its credit in the Indian Navy,” said Mr. Amarendra Kumar.
On Friday, the Municipal Administration and Urban Development department issued a GO.RT 271 - approving the GUDA’s proposal to develop the museum at an estimated cost of ₹5.89 crore that is to be borne by the urban development body.
