VIZAG matters - Sohan Hatangadi's Blog

  On the Bay of Bengal coast, to the south of the Bhimunipatnam ridge, is an area comprising deeply gullied red sand dunes. You can look it up in Google Earth at (17 52.078' N, 083 25.845 E). This area is referred in Telugu as "Erra Matti Dibbalu" which translates to Red Sand Hills. They are unique because of the rarity of such gullied red dunes formations of which only three remain in South East Asia. The Erra Matti Dibbalu was formed over thousands of years. Nature, the great artist has gifted us these sublimely beautiful formations and it must be enjoyed with care. The threats to these dunes are from irresponsible tourism. Visitors scramble all over the dunes and erode them at an unnatural rate. The area is filling up with litter left behind by picnickers. Builders eye the empty land with hopes of building on it and government departments want to use it for some official construction or other. If the formations are to be saved, urgent action must be taken to safegu...

  Vizag has much to offer for those diving for pleasure and adventure

ERRA MATTI DIBBALU, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India 24 Km from Palm Beach Hotel and 10 Km before Bheemili on the beach road Coordinates:  17 52.078' N, 083 25.845 E This video takes us on a quick visit to the Erra Matti Dibbalu site. It explains why the area is important and the terrible impact of garbage on its natural beauty, For more than a decade now the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Department has been mishandling this site. Half-hearted attempts to convert it into a valuable tourist spot have failed. A couple of years ago it was declared as Geo Heritage site by an NGO but due to poor follow up and low management inputs it made no difference. It pops up in the news occasionally and vanishes from public view again. We must all work hard to give it the status it deserves. PLEASE CLICK THE LINKS BELOW TO SEE WHY IT NEEDED A CLEAN-UP BEFORE CLEANING UP https://youtu.be/xwtULGwRXtM Erra Matti Dibbalu (Red Sand Dunes) is a beautiful but neglected site. It ...

STOP DESTROYING OUR BEACH https://youtu.be/RU8I2rIFLh4 CLICK ON THE LINK ABOVE TO FIND OUT HOW VISAKHA UTSAV DAMAGES OUR BEACH AND SEA If we keep quiet we will lose the beauty of our beach and the Temporary leaders and bureaucrats don't give a damn about our real Vizag. Vizagites, please share this message. Let the authorities know that the destruction of our natural assets will not be tolerated anymore. Everything is not empty show business and commerce. Stop the madness now.

We go to our beaches for relaxation and some peace.  But now days, every day, we are confronted with more cacophony and chaos there. Our beaches are destination for myriad events. Variety programs,  food festivals, musical shows, marathons,  flash dances, protests, rallies, parties, awareness drives, and  hundreds of other events. Ahaa! We get an idea  and head straight for the beach to show it off to the world! Every alternate day there is some noisy program on the beach road as if there is no other place anywhere in Vizag.  Every week we are impacted terribly by the mikes, sounds,  crawling traffic and increased pollution.  Every program results in tons of extra garbage which has to be cleared.  Please remember that we are paying the taxes which GVMC uses to clean the beach road every day.  I can appreciate that some program like NAVY DAY must be celebrated only on the beach but certainly not every miscellaneo...

Say goodbye to our beaches Appeared in Times of India Vizag Edition on 03 April 2017 Vizag is a coastal city and the best part of living in a place like this is access to our beautiful beaches. We take for granted our right to walk on to the beach sand and wade in the waters of the Bay of Bengal. Do we need permission to visit the beach? Do we have to buy a ticket to enjoy the sea? Obviously not! That is because the sea is our common property and a public place that we can visit any time we want to. But is this going to change soon? Old timers will recollect the beaches of old Vizag with nostalgia. Most of the Vizagites lived in the “Old Town” near Visakhapatnam Port Trust channel. Families lived within a few hundred yards of the beach, and children played on the beach and swam in the sea whenever they could. Hundreds of fishing boats lined the beach and fishermen went fishing every day to bring in a bounty of fish that they sold at the beach or in the markets making a decent l...

Every time we talk of tourism we want to cram something more on to our beach road. Our beaches are destination for Events. Food joints.  Shows. Sports. Flash dances. Protests. Rallies. Parties. Awareness drives and every other whimsical idea we come up with. Every alternate day there is some idiotic programme on the beach road as if there is no other place anywhere in Vizag. Every week folk like us are impacted terribly by the sound, increased curb side pollution and gridlock on our roads. Our beaches are suffering and the citizens are suffering. I appeal to all to stop this campaign to do more on our beaches. Leave our beaches alone at least from Coastal Battery to VUDA park.

My article in the Times of India dated 7 Feb 2016 How the International Fleet Review changed Vizag Our city has recently gone through a transformative change. Several parts of Vizag have gone from ugly to beautiful in a month. Encroachments have been cleared, greenery has been laid, walls have been painted, pavements have been tiled and the city has a clean new look. We must admit that Vizag has never ever looked so bright and shining. The challenge Getting an existing city like Vizag spruced up so quickly is not an easy job. Those of us who have got a house renovated realise that every work looks simple until we start. But then things go wrong. Workers don’t turn up, wrong materials are purchased, things break, unanticipated jobs crop up and the journey to completion is never smooth. Old parts of the city that has grown organically over many decades are never easy to fix. Plans were to be made, money had to come in quickly, contractors with adequate human and monetary reso...

My friend the Navy TOI dated 31 January 2016 Those who lived in the old town of Vizag in the 1950s to 1970s had an emotional link to the Navy. Many of us lived on or very near the beach road of the old town long before the entire beach front was taken up by the Outer Harbour project. From our sea facing balcony we would see the naval vessels steam in and out of the harbour and watching those grey vessels against our blue seas was a treat. Those who studied in St. Aloysius would be drawn away from the teacher and blackboard to gaze at these wonderful vessels bristling with guns. Where were they coming from, where were they going? What were the navy men doing on board? Our fertile minds created an aura around these men in white. We dreamt of lands far away and the life in the navy. Many youngsters wanted to make a career in the navy when they grew up. The navy had a profound impression on our young minds. Of fishing and navy ship watching During the long summer vacatio...

CRZ is a much misunderstood law. Read this article to get an overview of the subject from Vizag's perspective. Just click this link. CRZ story: Battle to save coast The story as it appeared in the newspaper: In word document: CRZ story: Battle to save coast Sohan Hatangadi Dated: 23 April 2015 To appreciate the philosophy of CRZ let’s go back a few decades. When we were kids most of us lived in Vizag’s “Old Town” near Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT), we lived within a few hundred yards of the beach, and played on the beach and swam in the sea whenever we could. Hundreds of catamarans, boats made with just two pieces of wood, would sail out every morning with their white sails dotting the clear blue sea and come back every afternoon laden with fish. Some fishermen would spread their nets from the beach and haul in a bounty of assorted crabs, prawns and fish that would leap in the nets as they came ashore, sparkling in the sun like stainless steel springs. Some ...

Panaji and Visakhapatnam a s study on climate resiliency Published on 5 Jan 2015 India has 130 towns and cities in 84 coastal districts. Climate science is increasingly warning us about the likely impacts of sea-level rise and cyclones on these cities. But are we paying heed? ‘Losing Ground’ maps out the climate vulnerability of two coastal cities in India- Panaji and Visakhapatnam, and builds a case for all coastal cities to start climate proofing their infrastructure and services without losing any more time.

A version of this article also appeared in the Times of India, Vizag Edition, today Nov 18, "Forget tourists, develop city for its own people". ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Over the last several months I have been travelling out of Vizag often. Each time I return I am glad to be back. Not only because I am coming home to family and friends but because I come home to Vizag; my stunningly beautiful city.    It is natural that the residents of the city to be proud of Vizag. And from this pride comes the tendency to show off the city to others. That is why we Vizagite say “We should develop Vizag into a tourist spot”. The rationale for wanting tourists is that: tourism brings in visitors who spend gobs of money here and generate employment that makes Vizagites rich . Notice how a subliminal pride of the city is rationalized into what appears to be a good reason. But what is the truth about tourism? ...