CM felicitates Pushkaralu duty personnel

Rajahmundry: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu gave a clarion call to the people to re-dedicate themselves for building Navya Andhra Pradesh by drawing inspiration from the stupendous success of Godavari Maha Pushkaralu. He was addressing a function at the Government Arts College on Sunday to felicitate all those who contributed to the success of the Pushkaralu.

Apart from CM, several ministers, principal secretaries, and top brass attended the function which began with `Aseervachanam' by Vedic scholars, followed by a two-minute silence observed as a mark of respect for the 27 pilgrims who died in a stampede on the opening day of the Pushkaralu on July 14. The meeting conveyed heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved families.

Naidu complimented the ministers, officials and staff who discharged their responsibilities ably and contributed to the thumping success of the holy event. In all, 4.9 crore pilgrims took the holy dip at various ghats in both the districts. All Pushkaralu plans were executed efficiently and the government departments vied with each other to make it a grand success, he observed.

The government employees from the lower level to the top, all worked in tandem and earned accolades from the people and even media and NGO’s contributed their mite to make it a memorable event, he added. “We should draw inspiration from this and put all our efforts in developing our new state,” he said.

Besides announcing the formation of Akhanda Godavari Authority, he announced payment of one-and-a-half times their DA for officials and staff who were on Pushkaralu duty and a two-day holiday for them to take rest and return to work with renewed vigour.

He also requested the officials and staff not to take to heart if he had spoken harshly under pressure during the mega event. Later, the Chief Minister gave away mementos to officials, staff, scribes and NGOs.

Chief Secretary I Y R Krishna Rao thanked all the sections of people who organised the Pushkaralu like never-before-event with utmost efficacy besides underlining the importance of river Godavari and the inter-linking of rivers. Additional Director General of Police RP Thakur said that police worked in a friendly atmosphere to earn appreciation from pilgrims.

He also thanked the Government for allocating additional funds for the food and other amenities to the police personnel who toiled hard during the event. Thakur said that using latest technology in managing crowd helped the police department at large.

Admitting that several factors including Central Police Control Room was not fully functional, failure of C C cameras, barricading, and several factors led to unfortunate stampede on July 14 and expressed his regrets over it.

Mayor Pantham Rajini Seshasayi, MLC Somu Veerraju, Kovvuru MLA K S Jawahar, Rajahmundry rural MLA G Butchaiah Chowdary, local MP M Murali Mohan, expressed happiness over the Chief Minister camping in Rajahmundry for 12 days to oversee Pushkaralu arrangements and bringing state governance to the city.

Deputy Chief Minister N Chinarajappa, Ministers Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy, Palle Raghunatha Reddy, P Narayana, Kamineni Srinivas, Prathipati Pulla Rao, K Atchannaidu, P Manikyala Rao, P Sujata, K Mrinalini and Siddha Raghavarao were also present.