Sea Harrier Museum inaugurated on Vizag beach

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy inaugurated the newly-developed Sea Harrier Museum at RK Beach here on Thursday.

This is the latest defence-related project at the popular beach and this is expected to attract more tourists.

The beach already boasts of TU 142 Aircraft Museum and INS Kursura Submarine Museum.

The Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) has developed the Sea Harrier Museum at a cost of Rs 10 crore.

After inaugurating the museum, the Chief Minister went around with the Indian Navy officials and they briefed him about the equipment kept on display at the museum.

This is said to be the only museum of its kind in the country. For the museum, the war aircraft was brought from Goa to Visakhapatnam. The parts of the aircraft and simulator have also been placed in the museum, which would give a different feeling to the visitors.

Eastern Naval Command's (ENC) Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Vice Admiral Biswajit Das Gupta, accompanied the Chief Minister around the museum. Deputy Chief Minister Budi Muthyala Naidu, ministers Audimulapu Suresh, Vidadala Rajini, Gudivada Amarnath, and R.K. Roja were also present.

Meanwhile, during his whirlwind visit to Visakhapatnam, the Chief Minister laid the foundation stone for a slew of development works and inaugurated various projects.

He unveiled the statue of former Chief Minister and his father Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy at Dr YSR ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, PM Palem. He went around a photo exhibition at the stadium and interacted with the members of Andhra Cricket Association (ACA).

Women cricketers Shabnam and K. Anjali Sarvani met the Chief Minister in the stadium premises. He appreciated their efforts and asked them to continue excelling in the sport and handing over a cheque of Rs 10 lakh each to the players on behalf of the ACA. On the occasion, the ACA members felicitated the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister also launched the Andhra Premier League Season-2 in the stadium and interacted with Ranji players. He further proceeded to Arilova and inaugurated the Apollo Cancer Centre and examined the radiation equipment.

Jagan Mohan Reddy also laid the foundation stone for construction of a fish landing centre at Bheemunipatnam. [IANS/NS]