VIZAG matters - Sohan Hatangadi's Blog

Important people say the most clichéd banal things and everyone nods wisely and pretend that it is all original wisdom. Can someone please tell them that we have been hearing the same tired ideas for decades? Can someone please point out that it is time to stop talking and start getting things done? The best meeting will be when officials leave the conference room and go to a tourism site and get it ready for real tourists. Get local ... get real ... get things done

Oooh what fun, give away all our land to "investors" for a HUNDRED YEARS! Let there be hotels and resorts all over. Who wants farms? Who wants schools? Who needs vocational centres? Who needs parks? Who needs stadiums? Who needs hospitals. Why bother about keeping space for flora and fauna? Who needs grazing pastures? Just flatten everything and give away the lands to the money bags for a song  If your grand kids want a bit of land some thirty years from now, to do their own business, they will have to wait a short time ... like a hundred years!  The outrageous demands of the so called "tourism sector" is scary. And our young tourism minister seems to be buying into these ridiculous arguments. There seems to be no one presenting a counter argument. If Vizagites and the media keep quiet we will be doomed. DON'T JUST READ THIS ... SHARE IT! Read more about in the below link Investment friendly tourism policy

Who killed the Bora caves?     The buzz over Bora Over the last few days there is quite a buzz about promoting even more tourism in and around Bora and Araku. This news is scary. Why? You ask. Well, a visit to Bora Caves illustrates the huge adverse impact of tourism on the area. Gone in a blink In the early 1970’s I have visited the caves, long before it was made into a “picnic spot” and spent time admiring its imposing beauty.  Now, this important and sensitive geological formation has been made into an amusement park, with visitors clambering all over the formations and thousands carving their graffiti on the cave walls.  Guides The freelance tribal guides do not bother about the vandalism. They  are poorly trained and mope around, completely demoralized by their APTDC bosses.  Gone in a flash What took millions of years to form has been destroyed in a mere 10 years ... a blink in geological time. Formations, what f...

Further to my post about CII's magnanimous attempts to develop Vizag. Here is a typical "Development" story adapted from Oren Ginsburg's presentation courtesy "Survival International". Prequel : When I travel - and someone asks me where I am from - and I say "Vizag" - and they say "wow, heard its a great place" - I say "its a lousy place - don't bother visiting". This is a defense mechanism. I am doing my part in reducing influx into Vizag. For God's sake - why can't they leave us alone to enjoy our city? Do your bit - don't go around telling folk from elsewhere that Vizag is great. _________________________________________________________________________ O nce upon a time two management gurus decided to "develop" Vizag. They made their way into Vizag's heartland with their laptops and suits.  They wanted to do a survey. After a while they came to a beautiful habitation in Viz...

Vizag's half baked tourism ruins the famous Bora Cave

28 March 2012 What tourism experience means to me Someone asked me what tourism meant to me. “If you were coming to Vizag on a short vacation how would you like to experience Vizag?” I have been an ardent tourist most of my life, always mixing a little sightseeing even when I travelled on business. Having travelled in India and abroad extensively, I tried to visualize what a good tourism experience would be for me. I took the best experiences of several destinations and put them all together as a sort of wish list. Here is how I imagined a good tourism experience at Vizag. I have several friends in Vizag and decide to take a weekend break there with my wife. We fly into Vizag; walk through a good air-conditioned aerobridge into a modern airport. The toilets are clean and for once in the gent’s toilet the urinal is at the right height, the sink tap works and there are enough paper towels napkins on the basin counter. Our luggage comes quickly, we load them into a smoo...

My Vizag’s Beach View from our beach home balcony in 1960.  Then an outer harbor Iron Ore jetty came up on the beach. A large wall blocked off the beach for the residents. Half a century ago, as a child I lived in an old stone building by the sea. So close in fact that, in stormy weather, the crashing waves sent a salty spray into our home. Ah the smell of the sea! The constant crashing of the waves! So subliminally deep was it driven into my psyche that, even when I went inland on vacation, I could still smell and hear it. On these sparkling waves and golden beaches we first learn to swim. All through summer vacation the neighbourhood boys frolicked among the waves. At dusk, we came home reluctantly, only when we were exhausted or when mom came looking for us, threatening dire consequences if we did not drag our salty black bodies back home. Here, I cast my catgut line with a bottle cork for a float and steel nut for weight, and caught my first sna...

Train Travel – tips on time pass during long train journeys Sohan Hatangadi March 2009 Now with the worldwide economy going poof everyone is cutting down on air travel. More and more folk who could afford to fly, whether on company work or on personal trips, now find that they have to take the good old “chuk chuk gadi”. The best train trips are when you take a night train and are at your destination in the morning. You get a good night’s sleep and you save on hotel stay. But longer trips that involve not only night but also day time travel can become quite a bore. It gets worse when all the passengers sit ignoring each other, talking endlessly on their mobile phones, or staring at a book, or simply sleeping all the time. So what can we do about it? Here are some suggestions to make your travel interesting and a great “time pass”. Making friends Trains are a great place to make friends, especially if you are travelling by day. So as soon as you take your seat or berth put on your friend...

--> "Erra matti dibbalu” Red Sand Dunes, Bhimunipatnam Tourism - at what cost? Sohan Hatangadi Date: March 13, 2009 There have been reports that Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) plans to put up a tourist facilit y at "Erra matti dibbalu" (“Red Sand Hills”) near Bhimunipatnam. The reports have caused concern among certain sections of the public as well as those from the scientific community. This site is the last remaining area having the unique red sand dune formations which are such a rarity. It is felt that establishing a tourism facility there will deeply impact the pristine nature of the area and seal the fate of this fragile ecological wonder. Where are the "Erra matti dibbalu “and what is unique about them? On the Bay of Bengal coast, to the south of the Bhimunipatnam ridge, is an area comprising deeply gullied red sand dunes of around 4 km length and 2 km width. It is bounded by streams “Chittigadda” in...