Beaches as Family Evening Destinations
When the evening comes beaches are really places where kids and adults go together to feel the cool sea breeze and have a good time. On holidays families like to go to the areas with their kids to have a relaxing and happy time. Beaches have always been thought of safe and nice public places for people to have fun and spend time with their families.
The state government has made some new decisions that are making people worry that these family-friendly places might change and that will make women, kids and families hesitant to go to the beaches.
Government Approves “Beach Shacks Policy”
The government had a meeting. They approved the Beach Shacks Policy. They are going to try this out at Bhimili, Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Chirala beaches.
The Beach Shacks Policy wants to make the beaches like the ones in Goa which’re popular with tourists. They will let people sell alcohol at the beach shacks from 10 in the morning to 8 at night so that more tourists will come and it will be good for business in the areas.
Concerns Over Changing Beach Environment
Some people are saying that this decision will change the beaches from family places to areas where people just go to drink and have a loud time.
They are worried that families with kids will not feel comfortable going to the beaches if there is alcohol being sold everywhere. Some groups are also saying that the government is more interested in making money from selling liquor than in keeping the beaches nice for families.
These concerns are even stronger because people are already saying that alcohol consumption and sales in the state are going up a lot.
Previous Controversial Remarks Resurface
This debate has also brought up some comments made by political leaders that caused a lot of controversy.
At the Vizag Property Fest–2025 event Speaker Ayyanna Patrudu said something that made people angry he said that tourists do not just go to the beach to drink tea and that men like to have drinks while women have ice cream. People criticized him a lot for saying that. Now people are linking his comments to the policy and saying that it shows the governments attitude towards the beach culture.
Earlier Proposals Under Scrutiny
People are also remembering some old proposals that were made between 2014 and 2019 when they wanted to have a “Love Festival” in Visakhapatnam beaches with things like bikini festivals and special areas for couples. Womens groups were strongly against it. It was eventually stopped.
Now people are saying that allowing alcohol sales on the beaches is raising concerns about the kind of tourism the government wants to promote and it is making people debate about the direction of coastal tourism policies.
Public Reaction and Ongoing Debate
Many groups, including womens organizations and parents are watching closely to see how this decision will work out in practice.
The main question that people are discussing over the state is whether this new policy will really help tourism or if it will slowly make families stop going to the beaches and change the way people think about the coastal public spaces and the evening beach culture, in Andhra Pradesh.
