VIZAG matters - Sohan Hatangadi's Blog

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 ...

Public opinion is finally building up. It is great to see the press voicing such concerns!   Now, we must play our part. JUST AVOID ATTENDING ANY BEACH EVENT FOR ONE YEAR. It will stop this spiraling madness of taking every event to our beaches. Even we the NGOs should avoid taking every activity to the beach road unless it is absolutely necessary. Every member is so competent in use of social media that we could have the event anywhere else and we will still get the audience. Please Share !

The ugly face of Tenneti Park.   All these Styrofoam  plates will long outlive  several of our coming  generations. Styrofoam lasts 500 years, and even after it has dissolved it's chemical traces will clog our ecosystem.    This is what happens with "beach tourism". Great to talk about it  but after it is set up it is no one's baby!

Our local events make sure that the performers and the audience are kept well apart. VVIPs and VIPs occupy the entire space near the stage. Performers hate this, they cannot connect with the audience. The crowds hate this because they cannot communicate their appreciation to the performers. The VVIPs are busy folk and often do not turn up keeping the front white sofas and seats vacant. It is disheartening to see excellent performances not getting audience response because they are simply too far away. This my friends has been going on for a long long time. It is surprising that those professional event managers who are paid tons of money to deliver a good show just toe the government line and keep following this old established official political format. We understand that security is an issue when VVIPs are there. That is why we should not mix business with pleasure when it comes to events. Now Visakha Utsav is around the corner, crores of our tax money will be spent on...

There is no doubt that a vibrant filming industry not only generates welcome revenue but - if  the context of the film is right - it shows the city in favourable light making it an attractive destination. For example "Lord of the rings" NEW ZEALAND, "Game of thrones" CROATIA  or "When Harry met Sejal" in PRAGUE, AMSTERDAM,  VIENNA to name a few. Switzerland has got a thriving filming industry popularizing it's towns such as ENGELBERG. However in every such place the rules for shooting films are well defined and stringent. Especially rules against polluting the locations. In the India this is not the case. When travelling in Aru Valley Kashmir in 2015 we saw thousands of Styrofoam plates strewn in green grasslands by a film crew shooting a Hindi film. Closer to home in Anjoda on the outskirts of Araku, after every shoot, the beautiful wooded forests are full of plastic packets, plates and plastic cups. Outdoor film shoots are a mess. In Vizag...

World tourism day 2016 Times of India dated 25 September 2016 On 27 September, the world will celebrate World Tourism Day. You must wonder if this is just another one of those silly days like friendship day, cell phone day, ice cream day, pet day, beer drinking day, open defecation free day and so on. Does World Tourism Day have any real significance? If it does, what does it mean for us here in Vizag?   What UNWTO does The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has 157 countries as members plus several associate members, Affiliate Members representing the private sector, educational institutions, tourism associations and local tourism authorities.  They are responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable tourism worldwide. As the leading international organisation in the field of tourism, UNWTO promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmentally sustainable tourism. The organisation generates d...

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.

Being practical is being smart Published in The Times of India on 21st December 2014 Every morning our heart leaps with joy when we read about the wondrous developments that are planned for Vizag. Apparently we are going to be a smart city. The mental imagery of this idea is quite enticing. I can visualize eager young executives riding gleaming Metro coaches and the BRTS to work and back. Stylish hospitals delivering babies, who go to smart schools and universities, get qualified, and go on to work in factories and ITES companies. Tourists descending on Vizag and spend bushels of money, they go swimming, wind surfing and sun bathing in swim suits. Our elderly, fortified by excellent health services, sit at the beach (with their binoculars, ensuring that the sun bathers in swim suits are safe). All citizens living in clean green living spaces with parks and houses like in Singapore. Children play in the park and the sound of their laughter permeates the air. What a glorious wonder...

Vizag’s tourism paradigm 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? While there are several different types of tourists let us examine a few main segments MONEY BAGS Indian & western The rich five star hotel and cruise liner type. Generally well-heeled, b...

Today was the Olympic Day Run on Vizag Beach Road. Here is what happened: 1. Thousands of posters were stuck indiscriminately on the beach road walls weeks earlier. An illegal and uncivil act. Question is who will pay for removing the posters? The Visakhapatnam District Olympic Association wanted to achieve a Guinness World Record. They certainly broke the World Record in Littering.  Come children - let us litter together! The litter had already entered the drains that lead to the sea I understand that thousands of children participated. Which brings me to the following questions: 1. What type of homes did these kids come from?  Do they come from homes that have not taught them basic civic sense? Messy parents messy  children? Did they not know that all litter must go in the bins provided? Incidentally GVMC Keep Vizag Clean bins was everywhere but they were almost empty! 2. What type of schools did they come from? If the parents have f...

Tourism – when less is more Click on this to read the newspaper article: https://plus.google.com/u/0/117435543637317707346/posts/3FUjUeGHdc5 Or read this word document: No business like tourism business Tourism worldwide is massive $ 4.5 Trillion industry (remember 1 trillion is a 1,000 billion) and results in around 250 million jobs. To give you a sense of scale, the software industry is only is $ 500 billion worth and creates 20 million jobs.  Several countries have learnt how to handle tourism successfully showing off their attractions while safeguarding their most sensitive sites from over exploitation. As a consequence tourism has become a major sustainable contributor to their economies. India is finally waking up By comparison the Indian tourism industry which is said to be around $ 9 Billion is a measly 0.02% by value and around 0.5% by international arrivals. No wonder that there is so much ignorance of the subject in our country. The Ministry of To...