Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu virtually laid the foundation stone of Yuvagalam Anti-Drug and Glow Theme Park at the Central Park in Dwarkanagar of Visakhapatnam on Saturday (October 11, 2025). The Minister instructed the officials concerned to complete the project at the earliest.
The Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) is developing the park on two acres of the 20-acre Central Park with an investment of ₹3.5 crore. VMRDA chairman M.V. Pranav Gopal, metropolitan commissioner K.S. Vishwanathan among others were present at the event.
VMRDA chairman speaking to The Hindu said, “The idea of this anti-drug park was ours. I got the idea of developing the park after observing the pulse of the youth during our leader Nara Lokesh’s Yuvagalam campaign during the general elections in 2024. Then, Lokesh had assured the youth that he would formulate plans and projects for awareness and eradication of the drugs. So, we planned this anti-drug park with an aim to bring awareness among the youth about the ill-effects of drugs. The park will be functional for visitors in the next six months.”
Mr. Pranav said that the park will also have a rehabilitation centre where people addicted to drugs will be counselled. Overall, he said, its main objective is to educate visitors in an open and peaceful venue with the support of psychologists, counsellors, educationists and law enforcement officers.
