City of Destiny

Vizag....City of Destiny

Let me share my thoughts on our "CITY".

Five years ago, Visakhapatnam, the City of Destiny, was just another urban centre trying to catch up with rest of the world by adopting the changes taking place around the world.

The pace of development of Visakhapatnam has been amazing as compared to Hyderabad, which took almost 10 years to reach the current level of progress in IT and other sectors. But Vizag is changing rapidly and just in a few years.

Till about four years ago, there was no life beyond Appu Ghar in M V P Colony, Hanumanthavaka and Jagadamba Junctions. On Thursday, the limits have been extended and the city is being billed, as Asia's fastest developing one.

The single biggest advantage of the city of destiny is, its port, which facilitated tremendous industrial growth over the years. The steel plant and the port gave Vizag a place on the global industrial map and the substantial growth in tourism sector paid rich dividends.

The Simhadri Thermal Power Project, Special Economic Zone, HSBC Data Processing Centre, Gangavaram Port - all developments in the recent years - further boosted the economy of Visakhapatnam.

The ongoing expansion of Vizag-Bheemili road to four-lanes, presence of luxury hotels, development of Araku/Borra caves etc gave Vizag a metropolitan character.

The transformation from Vizagapatnam, to City of Destiny was sluggish earlier but its metamorphosis into a megalopolis is quite evident in the last half decade. This 14 sq km Port City rapidly changed its face and nearly doubled its radius during the last five years.

The real development towards metro status started in the new millennium.

Following the speedy development in all sectors including tourism, hotels, industries and education, the lifestyles of people changed.

Food courts, hotels, restaurants, entertainment centres etc gave the much needed facelift to Vizag.

Visakhapatnam was synonymous with areas like Jagadamba Junction, R K Beach and Simhachalam while Pendurthy, Gajuwaka, Madhurawada and Bheemli were nondescript towns devoid of basic amenities in the past. These satellite towns have now emerged as major business and residential hubs.

The growth in hotel industry proved that the city is heading towards further development.