Students sensitised to significance of Erramatti Dibbalu in Vizag

Visakha Valley School students visit Erramatti Dibbalu for geography awareness camp, urged to protect heritage sites by INTACH.

Around sixty students of Visakha Valley School visited the Erramatti Dibbalu (red sand dunes) at Rushikonda on Wednesday. The students were taken to the heritage site as part of a geography awareness camp organised by the school in association with the Indian National Trust for Art & Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Visakhapatnam Chapter.

School principal Eshwari Prabhakar and heritage club co-ordinator A. Srinivasa Rao led the students, while INTACH district convener P. Rajasekhara Reddy and member Renuka Rani explained the significance of the heritage site to the students.

Mr. Rajasekhara Reddy said the sand dunes in Viskahaptnam is among only two such sites in India. The 12,000-year-old red sand dunes are a great heritage of the country. Such sites are available in Saudi Arabia, Namibia and India.

These dunes, which were once spread over around 850 acres, have been reduced to 400 acres due to sea erosion and human interference, he explained.

The INTACH team and school authorities advised the students to work towards the protection of the heritage sites.

Ms. Prabhakar said every student should work towards the protection of the great heritage structures of the city, the State and the country.

The students were also taken to natural ‘Sila Thoranam’ at Thotlakonda, another heritage site.