HYDERABAD: With the 12-day Krishna Pushkarams fast approaching, the state government is making arrangements for setting up Pushkar Nagars at ghats. The government has released Rs 2 crore for the purpose. Krishna Pushkarams would start on August 12 and conclude on August 23.
Pushkar Nagars will be set up at Siddhartha Engineering College (Kanuru), Yanamalakuduru Ghat (Penamaluru), Truck Terminal (Ibrahimpatnam), VTPS Ground (Ibrahimpatnam), CWC Godown (Rayanapadu), Endowment site (Thummalapalem), Ibrahimpatnam, wholesale market yard (Gollapudi) at Gannavaram in Vijayawada.
The government will set up reception, parking, accommodation, wash rooms, dress changing rooms, drinking water counters, food stalls, lighting facilities, medical camps, set up fire safety equipment, bus stand, public addressing system, LCD TVs, cloak room and shoe stands at all Pushkar Nagars. Apart from this, the government has sanctioned Rs 15.39 crore for construction of sewerage treatment plants at Tadepalli, Jaggaiahpet and Nandigama municipalities in Krishna district.
Amaravati will be the main attraction for Krishna Pushkarams. The festival will be mainly organised in Krishna, Guntur and Kurnool districts. About three crore people are expected to take a holy dip during the Pushkarams. Vijayawada, Vedadri, Mopidevi, Hamsaladeevi in Krishna district, Amaravati and Sitanagaram in Guntur district, and Srisailam, and Sangameswaram in Kurnool district will attract lakhs of devotees.
The government is taking steps to construct at least 125 new bathing ghats and renovate around 150 temples on the banks of river Krishna in Kurnool, Guntur and Krishna districts.
As many as 22 Pushkar villages are going to come up in and around Vijayawada which will be one of the major centres for the mega event.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is planning to construct Balaji temple in Rayapudi on the banks of Krishna. Apart from this, replicas of the all famous temples would be installed for Pushkarams at the capital foundation place of Uddandarayunipalem.
The state government has asked railways and APSRTC to arrange satellite railway stations and bus stations so that visitors to the Pushkarams alight at the stations close to the ghats.