Sea Harrier museum likely to be ready next month

Visakhapatnam: VISAKHAPATNAM Metro Region Development Authority (VMRDA) will soon add another tourism attraction to the City of Destiny as work is in progress at brisk pace on development of the Sea Harrier Museum on the picturesque beach road.

The Sea Harrier made in the UK is one among 30 jet fighters which adorned INS Viraat, the famed aircraft carrier of the country. After its decommissioning in 2017, they were placed at Goa. One of the Harriers was brought here last year and is now in the process of getting suspended from the ceiling to replicate in flight mode and encased in glass inside Rajiv Smruti Bhavan on the beach road. The project cost is estimated at Rs.10 crore.

MIG aircraft now adorn INS Vikramaditya, which was inducted into the Indian forces after the retirement of INS Viraat. Sea Harriers are versatile at short takeoff and vertical landing being jet fighters. They are also acclaimed as reconnaissance and attack aircraft.

VMRDA Commissioner P Koteswara Rao told Bizz Buzz that they were hopeful of completing the work on the project in April. Due to the pandemic, the development of the museum got affected for some time.

The city has two other tourist attractions close to the proposed museum on the beach road. INS Kursura Museum has become a big hit with the tourists. Kursura is a Kalvari class submarine, a variant of Foxtrot class and converted into a museum in 2001 after it served the nation for 31 years. It is very often called the Grand Old Lady of Indian Navy. It played a key role in 1971 operations in the Arabian Sea.

TU 142 Aircraft Museum was inaugurated three years ago. AP Tourism Development Corporation spent Rs14 crore to make required modifications to convert the aircraft into a museum. It served the nation for 31 years with 30,000 hours of accident-free flying before it retired.

The Government of India decided to scrap INS Viraat in Gujarat after the State Government mooted converting it into a museum and a luxury venue to host big events as a joint venture with the Navy and a private investor at an estimated cost of Rs 500 crore.

"We are very happy that the Sea Harrier Museum is getting ready on a fast-track. It will become a very attractive location for the locals as well as tourists," Tours and Travels Association of Andhra (TTAA) secretary Padhi Srinivas, said.

He said before the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, Visakhapatnam due to introduction of e-visa and good flight connectivity was able to get nearly one lakh foreign tourists per annum. Once the situation normalises, the city will get more domestic and foreign arrivals.