New Convention Center by Lulu. Good Idea, but Wrong Location.

The proposed construction of a new Rs. 700 crore convention centre at the APIIC grounds opposite Harbour Park near RK beach has set alarm bells ringing for many Vizagites. Especially, for those living in the vicinity. It is true that Vizag does not have a large conference Center and adequate rooms to host a large conference.  Any city that  aspires to be a MICE destination must have adequate purpose-built space for hosting large events. So when the space became available near the beach it was natural for the government to grab the opportunity to build it here. But it seems to be a grave mistake.

The proposal is for this 14 acre land is to have 5,000 seat conference halls, 200 room hotel, multiplex theaters and a shopping mall. 

There are only two roads to access the complex.  The harbor park road on the West and the Beach road on the East. There is one small unused narrow road adjacent to the Pandurangaswamy temple. The beach road is narrow and crowded.  The harbor park road is narrow and has no pavements.  With a footfall of 15,000 on weekdays, 30,000 on weekends and around half that many cars, bikes and autorickshaws crowding the RK area and the Beach road everyday this area is already super dense. During events the traffic here bloats hugely.  During IFR in 2016 the crowds swelled to more that 6 lakh on a single day! 

In addition to the floating population that ebbs and swells daily we have around 15,000 residential population of the area.  Many who came here from other parts of Vizag and from other cities and states to what appeared at that time to be a quiet suburb of Vizag. They invested in homes here hoping to have a quiet life but now their hopes are dashed. The daily events associated with the beach road causes frequent traffic blocks. Police put up barricades at any time of the day or night and prevent local residents from accessing their own homes freely. Constant wailing sirens and loud speaker announcements at any time of the day or night asking for roads to be cleared is a daily nuisance and it seems to be getting worse by the day. 

We can expect conferences with around 2,000  delegates regularly at the venue.  If 75% of these delegates are being bused to the venue we are talking of around  50 large buses coming into the area within a window of 1 hour in the morning and again going out within 1 hour in the evening. Plus add the VVIP car convoys with its accompanying security entourage and hundreds of minor VIPs, sirens blaring, making their way in and out of area every day. 

Then do not forget the service providers with their trucks and staff using the the approach roads before,  during and after the event. This scenario itself is scary. Then we are told that the complex will also have a mall and a multiplex!  

Locations like these have inherent law and order risks associated with it. It must also be a matter of concern for the local police and fire department. A quick evacuation of large numbers of people from the venue is fraught with difficulties.

When you put together the whole mix of narrow and limited access roads,  high human density, law and order and safety issues this location is not a desirable place to have the Convention centre. With architectural ingenuity the impact of the building on the surrounding areas can be mitigated to some extent but it will still inflict too much hardship on the area’s residents and will result in traffic snarls that will be felt far and wide. Putting all the ingredients  together will result in a recipe for pure chaos in general and torture particularly for the residents of the area.

No one says that we should not have a large convention center. The earlier government had already identified around 20 acres in Mudasorlova and 58 acres in Madhurawada several years ago but it did not work out then as investors got snarled in red tape. Now with more professional governance and a willing investor those areas can be reconsidered. 

So, what do we do with the present land? Well if you want to make the general public happy and get some grateful votes, we could have a beautiful botanical garden there. A place of great value to be kept aside for posterity.  A place that will give some lung room to the citizens and a  place to connect with nature. A place that will reassure future generations that we thought about regular people and not only about business.