Vizag to get a makeover for G20 working committee meeting

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam will get a complete makeover on the eve of the working committee meeting of G20 nations in the city on March 28 and 29, Special Chief Secretary, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Y. Srilakshmi said on Saturday.

Delegates from 19 countries and the European Union, which is also a member of the G20 Group, will attend. The EU at present has 27 members. India, which is heading G20, will host the G20 Heads of Government Summit in New Delhi this year in September.

After a review meeting on the preparations for the Visakhapatnam meeting, Srilakshmi told the officials from the Revenue, Tourism, R&B, Municipal Administration and Urban Development, Tribal Welfare from the North Andhra to make foolproof arrangements for the important meeting.

The government has already named senior IAS officer Ajay Jain as the nodal officer to coordinate the preparations for the big event.

Srilakshmi said 97-km stretch of roads in the city will be black-topped along with sprucing up various buildings. The delegates will be taken around various tourism facilities such as Buddhist monuments, the Visakhapatnam-Bheemili Beach Road, Dutch cemeteries and INS Kursura submarine museum, lighthouse, Dolphin's Nose and TU 142 Aircraft museum. Besides the tribal museum, coffee gardens and other facilities at Araku Valley , the arts and crafts of traditional artisans will be showcased at Shilparamam. The welfare schemes of the State Government will be explained to the delegates.

She said security arrangements in the city will be tightened in view of the visit of top dignitaries from abroad for the G20 meeting.