Visakhapatnam

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Visakhapatnam (విశాఖపట్నం)
"The Jewel of the East Coast", "City of destiny"
—  city  —
Visakhapatnam (విశాఖపట్నం) Location of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh
Coordinates	17°42′N 83°15′E / 17.7°N 83.25°E / 17.7; 83.25
Country	India
State	Andhra Pradesh
District(s)	Visakhapatnam
Settled	273–232 BCE
Mayor	P. Janardhana Rao
Commissioner	V.N. Vishnu
Planning Agency	GVMC, VUDA
Population • Density • Metro	969,608 (2001[update]) • 2,658 /km2 (6,884 /sq mi) • 1,329,472
Official languages	Telugu, Hindi, English
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Area • Elevation	540 km2 (208 sq mi) • 5 m (16 ft)
Codes[show] • Pincode • 530 0xx • Telephone • +91-0891 • UN/LOCODE • IN VTZ • Vehicle • AP31, AP32, AP33, AP35
Website	www.gvmc.gov.in

Visakhapatnam (Telugu: విశాఖపట్నం pronunciation (help·info)) (also Vizag, shortened and anglicised: Visakha/Vizag or Vizagapatam/Vizag City) is a major port and the second largest city in the state of Andra Pradesh on the east coast of India with a population of approximately 1.3 million. The city is nestled among the hills of the Eastern Ghats and faces the Bay of Bengal to the east. It is the administrative headquarters of Visakhapatnam district and is also home to the Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy. Visakhapatnam is often referred to as The Jewel of The East Coast or The City of Destiny.

[edit] Overview

The "City of Destiny"

Aerial view of Visakhapatnam port

Visakhapatnam (Vizag) is second largest city in Andhra Pradesh with an area of 550 km². It is primarily an industrial city, apart from being a port city. It is also home to the Eastern Naval Command. Visakhapatnam has seen rapid development in the past decade.

The Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) will get a new master plan consequent to the increase in its purview from 1700 km² to 5500 km². The earlier master plan was approved by the government in 2006. VUDA’s jurisdiction has been expanded in mid-2008.

The city sometimes goes by its now mostly defunct colonial British name, Waltair. During the colonial era, the city's hub was the Waltair railway station, and that part of the city still is still called Waltair. It is sometimes referred to as the "City of Destiny"^{[citation needed]}.

Visakhapatnam is home to several state-owned heavy industries, one of the most advanced steel plants and has one of the country's largest ports and its oldest shipyard. It has the only natural harbour on the eastern coast of India.

[edit] Name and history

3rd century BC Buddhist ruins of Thotlakonda

Visakhapatnam or the place of Visakha, is named after the deity of valour, the second son of Lord Shiva. The other story is that the beauty of the place was compared to the beauty of Sakhi Visakha. The legend is that Radha and Visakha were born on the same day and equally beautiful. The city people believe that an Andhra king, impressed by the beauty, built a temple to pay obeisance to his family deity, Visakha.

[edit] The epic city

The city has been mentioned in the Indian epics Rāmāyana and Mahābhārata, as well as the forests of the Eastern Ghats where the two brothers Rama and Lakshmana wandered in search of Sita, wife of Lord Rama. According to the epics, Rama formed his army of monkey men in the region with the help of Hanuman and Jambavant. The monkey army of Rama later defeated the demon King RAVAN to claim back his wife Sita. An episode of Mahābhārata when Bheema killed the demon Bakasura, was believed to have happened in the village karmanvati, just 40 km from the city.

[edit] Buddhist influence

The religious Hindu texts mention that the region of Visakhapatnam in the 5th century BC was part of the vast Kalinga territory which extended up to the Godavari River. The relics found in the area also prove the existence of a Buddhist empire in the region. Kalinga later lost the territory to King Ashoka in the bloodiest battle of the time which prompted him to embrace Buddhism. G Tejeswar Dora

[edit] Later history

The territory of Viskahapatnam then came under the Andhra rulers of Vengi. Then Chalukyas, Pallavas ruled over the placid land. The Chola kings built the temples in the city in 11-12 century AD as established by archeological findings. The Mughals ruled this area under the Hyderabad Nizam in the late 15th and early 16th century. European merchants from France, Holland and the East India Company used the natural port to export tobacco, ivory, muslin and other textile products.

Local legend states that an Andhra king, while on his way to Benares, rested there and was so enchanted with the sheer beauty of the place. He ordered a temple to be built in honor of his family deity, Visakha. Archaeological sources however reveal that the temple was possibly built between the 11th and 12th centuries by the Cholas. A shipping merchant, Sankarayya Chetty, built one of the mandapams (pillared halls) of the temple. Although it no longer exists (it may have been washed away about a hundred years ago by a cyclonic storm), elderly residents of Vizag talk of visits to the ancient shrine by their grandparents. Noted author Ganapatiraju Atchuta Rama Raju contradicted this.^[1]

In the 18th century, Visakhapatnam was part of the Northern Circars, a region comprising Coastal Andhra and southern costal Orissa that was initially under French control and later the British. Visakhapatnam became a district in the Madras Presidency of British India. In September 1804, British and French squadrons fought the naval Battle of Vizagapatam off the harbour. After India's independence it was the biggest district in the country and was subsequently divided into the three districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam.

The city has the tomb of the Muslim saint Syed Ali Ishak Madina, located atop the dargah-hill near the harbour in old city, which is dated to 18th century, where Hindus make vows at it as often as Muslims. The saint is considered to be all potent over the elements in the Bay of Bengal. Many old residents say that every vessel passing the harbour inwards or outwards used to salute the saint by hoisting and lowering its flag three times, and that many ship-owners offer chadar at the shrine after a successful voyage.

[edit] The city

The city overlooking the Beach Road

From a small fishing village in the 20th century, Visakhapatnam has grown into an mega-industrial hub. Its saga began when the British needed a suitable port that could serve move the rich mineral wealth from the countryside. Unlike the western coast of India, the east coast has natural harbours. Vizag is the most protected natural harbour in Asia.^{[citation needed]} They started building the harbour in 1927; in 1933 it was opened to traffic.

One important milestone is the setting up of the Scindia Steam Navigation Co., later known as Hindustan Shipyard Ltd in 1940. With the construction of the K.K. line connecting the iron ore mines of Bailadila in M.P. (present day Chattisgarh), its importance grew. In the 1950s and 1960s the government and the private sector set up large scale basic industries like Bharat Heavy Plates and Vessels (B.H.P.V.), Hindustan Zinc Ltd., Caltex oil refinery (later acquired by government as H.P.C.L.), Coromandel fertilizers, and Andhra Polymers (now LG Polymers). The 1980s saw a major development with the development of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and other major industries. Economic liberalization in the 1990s brought a modest growth to the city but not as much as it did to Hyderabad. However, some industries sprang up like Rain Calcining Ltd., expansion of HPCL, setting up of Vizag Export Processing Zone, and the Simhadri Thermal Power plant of N.T.P.C. Visakhapatnam was declared one of ten fastest growing cities of the world in a recent study conducted by the United Nations.

Ramakrishna Mission near RK Beach

Due to the presence of the Eastern Naval Command, Steel Plant and H.P.C.L., the city has been the home to people from different parts of the country and due to this the city has a cosmopolitan nature.

The Gateway Hotel

The city's main commercial and shopping centres are in the Dwarakanagar-R.T.C. complex area and Jagadamda Junction area.it even has 2 newly built inox namely varun beach and cmr central completely funfilled. Since 2000, the Dwarakanagar-R.T.C. complex area has transformed into a commercial hub with new shopping malls and complexes springing up within a radius of 2-3 kilometers. The city is home to many five-star hotels such as Taj group, ITC-WelcomGroup and Park Hotels.

There has been a rise in the real estate prices attributed to the Telangana movement for a separate Telangana state, fueling speculation that Visakhapatnam will become the next capital. Recently various large and small software and BPO companies have announced plans for starting development and outsourcing centres in Vizag, which has also contributed to the rise in real estate prices. Inflows from Non-resident Indians (NRIs) from Vizag have further added to this rise.

The city also owes its economic growth to the availability of an educated English-speaking workforce. English is the first language in many places of higher education in the city. This availability of a highly educated workforce allowed the entry of many B.P.O. companies such as HSBC, thus providing the roots for the beginning IT/ITES industry in the city. The city registered over 100% growth in the I.T. sector over the last year, contributing millions of dollars to the economy. The city has around 50 small and medium software and call centre units, of which about 10 units started their operations during the year 2005-07. Software exports from the Visakhapatnam in 2007 were worth Rs. 245 crores - an increase of over 100% over the previous year.

Various national and international I.T. and banking giants have set up or will be setting up offices in the city. These include Mahindra Satyam, Tata Consultancy Services, HSBC, Wipro, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Oracle Corporation, ABN AMRO, Patni Computer Systems, Hexaware Technologies, iSOFT, Sankhya Technologies, Infosys, iFlex, HCL Technologies, EDS, Datasoft Comnet Pvt. Ltd., Sutherland Global Services, Kenexa, E Centric Solutions Pvt Ltd, OpenWindow Technologies Inc., and Kanbay. The Andhra Pradesh government provided infrastructure and land for these companies to set up their development centers in the city outskirts.

Many Vizag-based SME's such as Symbiosys Technologies, Xinthe Technologies, NuNet Technologies,Jain Infotech, Sankhya Technologies, Patra, Acclaris, Samudra Software, etc., have been providing IT and ITES services. Many of these companies have formed an association called Visakhapatnam Information Technology Association (VITA) to help promote IT in Vizag as well as bridge the Industry-Institution gap. To help companies in and around Visakhapatnam build their human capital, companies like IndiGenius have been providing Human Resource (HR) consulting services such as recruitment, temporary staffing and training. Training companies like Conduira and TIME have been helping students prepare for higher studies in reputed educational institutions.

Indira Gandhi Zoological Park was set up in 1972 in the city outskirts. The Zoo Park features some of the rarest species in India.

[edit] Strategic importance

Many battles have been fought in the city during such conflicts as World War II, the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and the Bangladesh Liberation War. It was only the second region in South Asia to be attacked by Japanese fighter planes during World War II. Recognising the strategic importance of the city and the role it played during the Bangladesh Liberation War, Pakistan sent its submarine, PNS Ghazi to destroy India's only aircraft carrier. The submarine sank off the coast (Pakistan claims, accidentally hitting one of the mines it laid; India claims, from a depth-charge dropped by the destroyer INS Rajput). The remnants of the submarine are on display on the beach road.

Victory at Sea 1971 commemorating victory over Pakistan

The city was so important during times of war that the Indian government decided to set up the Eastern Naval Command, overlooking the more populous Chennai and Kolkata, and developed Vizag during that period. The establishment of the E.N.C. soon after the construction of the ship building yard firmly secured Vizag's place in the annals of the Indian Navy. More defence related establishments would later come up including the N.S.T.L. (Naval Science and Technology Laboratories), which is responsible for the development and testing of warship technology, equipment and weapons.

The famous submarine museum near "Victory At Sea", Visakhapatnam

The Navy is also constructing a second base as the current base is overpopulated and not sufficient to meet the needs of the E.N.C. Despite its importance, the Naval establishment has become a hindrance for the development of Visakhapatnam. The harbour is not open to the general public for reasons of security, while in Mumbai and Kochi, the entire port along with Naval docks are opened for boating and tourism.

Visakhapatnam is surrounded on three sides by the overlapping mountain ranges, and the southeastern city is safeguarded by the Bay of Bengal. Vizag is far away from any international border, both land and sea, making it the choice for strategic placement of the headquarters of the eastern naval command.

[edit] Demographics

Vizag is a cosmopolitan mix of people from various parts of the country. From a population of a few thousand locals during the 18th century and early 19th century the population grew steadily every decade. The city doubled its population from 1990–2000 owing to a large migrant population from surrounding areas and other parts of the country coming to the city to work in its heavy industries.

Aerial view from Kailasgiri Hills during night.

According to the 2001 India census,^[2] Visakhapatnam had a population of 969,608 and that of urban area 1,329,472.^[2] After the state government approved the formation of Greater Visakhapatnam with the merger of Gajuwaka municipality and 32 villages in the vicinity in the Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation, the population of the city and the metro area swelled present population may be between 1.6 to 1.8 million ^{[citation needed]}. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. The city has an average literacy rate of 70%, higher than the national average of 59.5%. Male literacy is 74% and female literacy is 64 %. 10% of the population is younger than six. Visakhapatnam is listed as one of the Ten Fastest Growing Cities of the World.^[3]

Hinduism is practised by the majority of citizens, followed by Islam and Christianity. The city patronised Buddhism for 2 millennia as evident from the presence of many Buddhist sangharamas in the outskirts. The Buddhist population has however waned since. All the religions co-exist peacefully; Visakhapatnam never witnessed communal riots during its entire history.

[edit] Language

Visakhapatnam is predominantly a Telugu-speaking city. The Telugu spoken by the middle classes is a standard dialect, while a significant population who have settled down in the city from the adjoining villages and neighbouring districts of East Godavari, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam speak Uttarandhra (North Coastal) Mandalikam dialects.

Historians^[who?] believe that centuries ago, when Uttarandhra was part of the Kalinga Empire, Buddhist missionaries and merchants might have taken Telugu (derived from Brahmi script) script to Southeast Asia from the shores of Uttarandhra where it parented into the scripts of Mon, Burmese, Thai, Khmer, Siam, Javanese and Balinese languages and even Sinhala of Sri Lanka.^{[citation needed]} Their similarities to Telugu script can be discerned even today.

Visakhapatnam is home to small Oriya, Maharashtrians, Bengali and Malayalee communities; their migration is recent. Due to the naval presence and high concentration of public sector industries, Visakhapatnam has a significant Urdu & Hindi speaking population.

[edit] Climate

Visakhapatnam experiences a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification Aw) with little variation in temperature through the year. May is the hottest month with average temperatures around 32^oC (90^oF), while January is the coolest month with average temperatures near 23^oC (73^oF).

As the city is located on the Bay of Bengal, the humidity remains high throughout the year. The total annual rainfall is around 955 mm (38 inches), the bulk of which is received during the south-west monsoon. October is the wettest month with around 204 mm (8 inches) of rainfall.

The months from November to February are the best times to visit the city, with moderate temperatures and little precipitation.

[edit] Transport

[edit] Air

Visakhapatnam Airport

The Visakhapatnam Airport is the busiest Airport in Coastal Andhra. Visakhapatnam is well connected with daily flights from Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Tirupati and Kolkata. Visakhapatnam Airport has recently received permission to operate night flights and now the airport is working up to 22:00. A new 10,000 foot [3 km] long runway became operational to accommodate international flights and larger aircraft. The airport was one of the few chosen by the center for modernization including facilities like aerobridges and immigration booths. The new terminal was inaugurated on 21 March 2009. Vizag airport is the busiest in the country after the six metros and Ahmedabad.

[edit] Road

Visakhapatnam seaport; harbour interchange fly-by road can be seen here

Visakhapatnam is one of the major cities on the east coast of India connected by NH5, a major national highway and a part of the Golden Quadrilateral system of Indian highways connecting Chennai and Kolkata. The section of Golden Quadraleteral(NH5) from Kolkata to Chennai connects Visakhapatnam to the North-East and to the South. The highway is an important route for transporting cargo and people from these cities to and from Vizag. Visakhapatnam has a good network of roads. There are frequent buses to Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, Araku and Rajahmundry. There are even bus services to Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Guntur