The 70th Republic Day celebrations were organised by the district administration in a grand manner, here at Police Barracks Grounds here on Saturday.

District Collector K Bhaskar unfurled the national flag and took the salute at the parade contingents.

Addressing on the occasion, Mr. Bhaskar recalled the development activities and programmes being taken up in the district since the last four years. He said that the district is going forward with a growth rate of 10.71%, while the Industries are cruising at 11.51 % growth rate.

Mr. Bhaskar said that since the last four years, the government has waived off ₹497 crore farm loans to about 2.16 lakh farmers in the district. He also said that under Babu Jagajeevana Ram Uttarandhra Sujala Sravanthi Scheme with approximately ₹2,022 crore, they have supplied irrigation water to 1.30 lakh acres. He also said that works are at pace to finish the Polavaram left main canal.

The Collector said that about 371 digital and 2015 virtual classrooms have been set up in the district. Through NTR Vaidya Seva, ₹398 crore has been spent and about ₹1.50 lakh patients have been treated, he said. Since the last three years, about 1.16 lakh houses were constructed with a budget of ₹2,396 crore under various house schemes, Mr. Bhaskar added.

The Collector also spoke about the expansion of IT industries, employment through MoUs signed in CII Summits, various smart city projects, upcoming development projects of various departments. As many as 402 government officials were awarded for their services.

GVMC tableaux wins first prize

Among the tableaux exhibited, tableaux presented by the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) won the first prize in the Republic Day parade. Visakhapatnam Metro Region Development Authority (VMRDA) and DRDA won the second and third prizes respectively.

Cultural programmes

Vandemataram performance by Sacred High School Gnanapuram, ‘Chakde India’ performance by KGBV Sabbavaram, and a few others stood as highlight in the programme.

CMD APEPDCL H.Y. Dora hosted the 70th Republic Day celebrations at Corporate office in Visakhapatnam. Mr. Dora recalled the work of EPDCL during cyclones, and appealed to the employees to work harder to serve the consumers of APEPDCL

VMRDA Vice-Chairman Basanth Kumar took part in Republic Day celebrations at the office.

Superintendent of Police (Vizag Rural) Attada Babujee and officers celebrated the Republic Day at the district police office.

At, RINL, PK Rath, CMD, unfurled the national flag and took the salute from CISF Jawans parade.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Rath observed that the steel industry, the backbone of the Indian economy, is on a path of recovery. He said that the production witnessed impressive growth in all fronts. Hot Metal, Liquid Steel and Saleable Steel production grew by 20%, 19% and 17% respectively during the current financial year. The captive power generation recorded a growth of 23%, labour productivity by 17%, Pulverised Coal Injection (PCI) by 32%, specific water consumption by 6% etc during the year, he said. Mr. Rath called upon the employees to demonstrate their capabilities and achieve the targets set for the current financial year.

Director (Personnel) K.C. Das, Director (Finance) V.V. Venugopal Rao and a large number of employees participated in the celebrations.

Unfurling the national flag, Chairman of VPT M.T. Krishna Babu said India reached 77th position in Ease of Doing Business in 2018 from 142nd position in 2014. This will attract many agencies to set up business units in India and help create employment. India has also improved its position to 44th place in 2018 in the Logistic Performance of the World Bank and VPT has a major role to play.

As part of 70th Republic Day Celebrations, Executive Director-Visakh Refinery, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited A.S.V. Ramanan, unfurled the national flag on the refinery premises. Mr. Ramanan insisted on the improvement of safety in refinery operations and also emphasised on safety/environmental measures and its systemic implementation. He also emphasised on the synergy and the importance of team work to face the challenges. Later service awards were presented to 59 employees.

At NTPC Simhadri Sadhana Kreeda Maidan on Saturday, Group General Manager Arupratan Maiti, hoisted the national flag.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Maiti highlighted achievements of Simhadri Super Thermal Power Project. He said that Unit-2 is running continuously for the last 335 days and Simhadri Station stands at second position on forced outage at 0.69%. Mr. Maiti also said that the NTPC has achieved perfect safety standard in all our activities.