Havelock Bridge may soon be converted into a tourist destination

The Havelock Bridge on Godavari River, which was erstwhile known as Godavari Old Bridge is working its way towards becoming a promising tourist destination. The proposal to transform the Godavari Old Bridge into a tourist attraction is slowly gaining an impetus, and its Detailed Project Report (DPR) has also been worked on.

Under the Swadesh Darshan Programme of the central government, the site will be visited by a team soon. Mukesh Kumar Meena, the Andhra Pradesh State Tourism Secretary, said that the plan to transform it into a tourism spot has been undertaken under the Akhanda Godavari Project scheme. The project would also see transformation at the banks of the Godavari at Rajamahendravaram, along with the villages in the island, and the old temples that are situated here. Also, other tourist facilities such as resorts and river cruise would be available for tourists.

Named after Sir Arthur Elibank Havelock, the Governor of Madras in 1900, the bridge was under use as a line between Howrah-Chennai until 1997. 3 km long, the bridge has 56 spans.

Meena also said that the government is looking to create a pubic-private partnership for this project, the details of which can only be finalised once the Detailed Project Report has been finalised. The project has already seen road-cum-rail bridge illumination. The proposal was originally in news during the time of Union Tourism Minister K. Chiranjeevi’s tenure. However, it was halted due to protests at that time, and it is only now that it has been gaining steady impetus as a major tourist project.