Hundreds of visitors from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha enjoyed themselves at the first Aero Sports Festival ‘Sahasam Seyara Dimbaka’ which was organised at Seethampeta of Srikakulam district on Sunday.

The entire premises adjacent to Seethampeta Adventure Park wore a festive look with various events, including hot air balloon, para motoring, power hang-gliding, parasailing and others. Weather was clear for all the sports events, which were normally conducted in Chennai, Bengaluru, Visakhaptnam and other major cities. The well trained pilots guided the tourists in moving in hot air balloons, parasailing and others.

Good response

District Collector K. Dhananjaya Reddy and Seethampeta Integrated Tribal Development Agency Project Director L. Siva Sankar expressed happiness over the overwhelming response from the tourists for the festival. “Seethampeta is going to be a major tourism destination. It will certainly provide employment to many tribal youngsters and improve economic activity,” Mr. Dhananjaya Reddy said.

Mr. Siva Sankar said that the entire department had taken it as a challenge to conduct the event as the infrastructure was little when festival was proposed. “We are going to construct resorts, museum, and eco-park very soon. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams will construct Lord Venkateswara Swamy’s temple at a cost of ₹3 crore. This step will improve temple tourism also,” he added.

Many public representatives, including Narasannapeta MLA Baggu Ramanamurthy and Patapatnam Legislator Kalamata Venkata Ramana and others, came along with their family members to watch the colourful festival. They hoped that the event would ensure huge number of tourists visit the district which had many other important tourist places like Telineelapauram, Kalingapatnam beach and others.

A few families expressed happiness over the arrangements, including the best food court in adventure park. “Well maintained Adventure Park is really a big gift for the district. We decided to come to this place whenever we come to our native Srikakulam district,” said K. Samyukta, a techie from Hyderabad.

The festival will continue on Monday and Tuesday. It is expected to draw more number of visitors with the festival holidays.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Staff Reporter / Srikakulam – January 14th, 2019