Araku shivers at 4 degrees, tourists flock to ASR

Visakhapatnam: Several parts of the ASR agency district recorded the lowest temperatures of the season on Monday, which drew a lot of tourists to these areas.

Araku Valley recorded the lowest at 4 degrees Celsius, Chintapalli and Lambasingi 7 degrees, GK Veedhi 7.3 degrees, Hukumpeta 7.8 degrees, Pedabayalu 9 degrees and Ananthagiri 9.4 degrees.

Except for Koyyur, all other stations recorded single digit temperatures, according to the Regional Agriculture Research Station (RARS) at Chintapalli, the primary weather station in ASR district.

Dense fog enveloped Chintapalli, Paderu, Araku Valley, Pedabayalu, Mimumuluru, Anantagiri and a few other locations in ASR district, lowering visibility to 120 meters and affecting road traffic movement in the morning hours.

Parts of Andhra Pradesh experienced winter chill. This marked a third consecutive day of chilly weather, as the minimum temperatures dipped in parts of coastal AP as well as Rayalaseema regions.

In the season’s boost to tourism, around 7,000 people visited Borra Caves on Sunday and 6,500 the previous day.

“This season we received thousands of tourists, mostly from the Andhra region. There is no space on the main road to walk,’’ said Neelakhantam, a taxi operator.

A large number of people were also seen at Lambasingi, Vanjangi and Chaparai, according to APTDC sources.

They said the crowd would keep swelling as the mercury keeps dropping in the coming days.