Plans afoot to hold river fiesta on grand scale

Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao directs officials to make the spiritual extravaganza safe and hassle-free

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Sunday directed officials to hold Krishna river Pushkarams on a grand scale on the lines of the Godavari Pushkarams. He wanted them to act strategically keeping in mind the geo-climactic conditions as the event is taking place in August, in the middle of the rainy season.

Reviewing the arrangements with senior officials at his camp office, the Chief Minister said many bathing ghats had to be built, at least 50, in a limited geographical area in two districts since the Krishna Pushkarams are different from that of Godavari. Since roads leading to the river are not in order, he instructed the officials to lay two roads – one leading to the river and the other to come back – on a war-footing. Parking facility should be provided on solid grounds to avoid wheels of vehicles getting stuck in loose soil.

Cranes should be put in place and fence should be erected at the bathing ghats, he said and asked the officials to be wary of crocodiles in the river and take precautions. Jogulamba temple is located on the Krishna river bank. Roads should be laid to the temple on a war-footing and all temples en route to the Jogulamba temple should be bedecked, he directed the officials.

After taking a dip in the river, people visit temples and hence all arrangements should be made at temple for devotees benefit, the officials were told. He told the authorities to avail District Collectors and other officials’ services while working for Godavari Pushkarams. He told them to make elaborate arrangements at Nagarjunasagar dam, Srisailam dam, Beechupalli, Vadepalli, Mattarupalli, Kollapur, Somasila, Pebberu and Jurala for the event.

Ministers T Harish Rao, Indrakaran Reddy, Tummala Nageswara Rao, Jupalli Krishna Rao, A Chandulal, Jagadish Reddy, Lakshma Reddy, Endowments Secretary Sivasankar, Nalgonda District Collector Satyanarayana, Mahabubnagar District Collector TK Sridevi and Planning Board vice-chairman Niranjan Reddy and others took part in the meeting.