Visakhapatnam: The AP Tourism Corporation’s expensively built Rushikonda buildings complex here, a legacy of the Jagan Reddy rule, has been a hotly debated subject these days.
TD’s Bheemili MLA Guntur Srinivas Rao and the Jana Sena leaders visited Rushikonda to have a glimpse of the lavish complex on Sunday. Media personnel were also taken in.
Ganta Srinivasa Rao noted that the buildings were constructed in a lavish manner by the YSRC government without giving details of the plan to the public. Barricades had been put up to restrict entry.
“We would discuss matters with Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and he will decide on how to make use of this complex, which appeared to have been built for personal use,” Ganta said, adding that the CM would visit the place soon.
The Rushikonda project, initiated in 2021, had been granted a construction fund of `365.24 crore. It has slope protection systems, lift, air conditioning, fire safety units, besides extensive landscaping.
The buildings complex comprises seven blocks: Vengi-A, Vengi-B, Kalinga, Gajapathi, and Vijayanagara A, B, and C. Each block has banquet halls, guest rooms, premium villa suites, spa, fitness centre, a back office, and service areas.It also has a 150KL fire sump, a 100KL domestic sump, and a plant to treat wastewater.
Each of the blocks caters to different needs: Vengi Block-A houses security, a back office and suites. Vengi Block B comprises a huge meeting hall with guest rooms and small conference halls; the Kalinga Block features a reception area, luxury suites, conference halls and banquet halls; Gajapathi Block includes housekeeping and a cafeteria, while Vijayanagara Blocks A, B and C offer presidential suites, villa suites, a spa, and banquet halls.
The YSRC responded on social media platform X by stating, “Rushikonda buildings are government assets and do not belong to anyone individually. The buildings were constructed with Visakhapatnam's priority in mind. The present government has the authority to decide how to use these buildings. However, there are no suitable buildings to host the President, Prime Minister, Governor, or Chief Minister when they visit Visakhapatnam. While it may provide emotional satisfaction to ruling party leaders to enter Rushikonda buildings and spread pictures and lies, this won’t benefit the people of Visakhapatnam.”
