To monitor boating activities and also to mitigate drowning incidents, Rushikonda beach will have an exclusive tourism boating control room here in the city. The control room, which is being constructed at a cost of ₹20 lakh by the Tourism Department, is scheduled to be inaugurated on June 18 by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy through a live video conference.
After the boat accident at Kutchuluru area in East Godavari district last year, the Tourism Department following instructions of the State government is setting up control rooms at nine different locations across the State for the safety of tourists and also to make sure such drowning incidents do not occur again. In the first phase, Rushikonda beach in Visakhapatnam district has been allotted a control room.
According to Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC)Divisional Manager T.G. Prasada Reddy, an MRO rank officer, Irrigation Officer (to asses climatic conditions), four persons from the Tourism Department, including two swimmers/community guards and two police constables will be working in the control room at Rushikonda. “CCTVs will be arranged at several parts of the beach and crowd will be monitored by the staff inside the control room. Public address system will be installed to make announcements. The boating operations will be also monitored. The staff will be given handheld VHF sets for communication purpose. In case of any untoward incidents, the staff can instantly respond and take action,” Mr. Reddy said.
Rushikonda beach has been witnessing more boating activities than the fishing harbour and a few more activities like parasailing are under proposal stage, due to which Rushikonda has been selected for setting up of the exclusive control room, he added.
After East Godavari district boat accident in September 2019, the boating activities were suspended in all parts of the State, including Rushikonda. They were resumed in January 19, 2020. However, the tourism activities were closed due to COVID-19 lockdown. At present, Rushikonda beach has a small room for the community guards as well as police to monitor boating and to control the crowd. The number of tourists visiting the beach, especially for boating activities, has increased over the years.
