VIJAYAWADA: ‘Anthima Yatra Bhavan’, a first-of-its-kind facility to preserve bodies till the relatives of the deceased arrive from foreign countries for funeral, in the State, developed by the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) was inaugurated at GS Raju Road, Satyanarayanapuram here on Saturday. MP Kesineni Srinivas formally inaugurated the facility, which comes handy for people living in rented houses, who face objections from owners if they want to keep the body of their family member for close relatives to arrive for one last glimpse. Central Constituency legislator Bonda Umamaheswara Rao, Mayor Koneru Sreedhar, MLC Buddha Venkanna and division (No 47) corporator G Mahesh were also present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, Srinivas lauded the efforts of corporator Mahesh for taking the initiative to help the residents of rented houses. This is for all people irrespective of religion. He also called upon the civic body to build similar facility at important locations in the city.
Corporator Mahesh said that ‘Anthima Yatra Bhavan’ was constructed at cost of `45 lakh allocated by the Vijayawada Central MLA from the special development fund. Spread over 300 square yards, the ‘Anthima Yatra Bhavan’ can facilitate preservation of four bodies at a time and the freezer boxes for the purpose were donated by citizens, B Dharma Rao and U Ranga Rao.