VIJAYAWADA/GUNTUR: In a grim reminder of the authorities’ helplessness in completing works and handling last-minute rush which resulted in a stampede during Godavari Pushkarams last year, officials entrusted with Krishna Pushkarams duty are also exhibiting the same symptoms. With a few hours left for the 12-day river fete to begin, the officials however managed to show that all arrangements are complete by Thursday evening.
Though the State government has announced to give Krishna Harathi to River Krishna at Ibrahimpatnam ghat on Thursday evening, works at Punnami, Bhavani and Sangamam ghats are still moving on a slow pace. Krishnaveni Ghat developed at a width of 750 metre in the downstream of Prakasam Barrage, is the only bathing ghat in the city where 100 per cent works have been completed. The Krishna district administration had developed 74 bathing ghats in the district with seven major ghats in Vijayawada city.
Durga Ghat, which is considered the major bathing ghat for the pilgrims, is not completely developed. Only the Central Command Control room is ready at the ghat where the chief minister and other higher officials will monitor the Pushkarams arrangements in Krishna, Guntur and Kurnool districts. The works were being taken up based on the designs proposed by the Chinese company Guizhou International Investment Corporation (GIIC) as part of the river front development.
Meanwhile, the works at Pushkar Nagars are also going at a slow pace. As many as 20 Pushkar Nagars were established in Vijayawada city, majority of them are lacking in basic amenities. Only the rooftop works are complete and ceiling fans installed. Bathing rooms and temporary toilets are not yet installed. Only the Pushkar Nagars near Pandit Nehru Bus Station and Railway Station have all amenities.
In Guntur district, the 1.3 km-long Pushkar Ghats at Dharanikota and Amaravati are ready. Works are complete at Seethanagaram, another important ghat in the district. Similarly, all the ghats in Palnadu region as well as in the remaining parts of the district are ready.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu took a serious view of the tardy progress of works and asked the officials to complete all the pending works by Thursday night itself and upload the status on a real time basis to the Chief Minister’s Dash Board.