YSR memorial garden at Pavuralagutta cries for funds

KURNOOL: Between Idupulapaya and Pavuralagutta, lies an idyllic history that was inextricably woven into the memories of former chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy. While Idupulapaya is the symbolic resting place of the late CM, Pavuralagutta earned the notoriety for being the land mass on which YSR’s helicopter had crashed.

It was 10 years ago that Kurnool district saw a massive hunt in Nallamala with elite commandos armed with night vision equipment joining 2,000-odd security forces, six choppers and Sukhoi jets to scour a large swathe of forests over which a helicopter carrying Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy went missing. The hunt resulted in sighting debris of copter and the corpses of YSR and his four other colleagues on September 3, almost 23 hours after they were reported missing. The debris was found at Pavuralagutta, a tribal village.

Pavuralagutta and Nallakaluva, two villages entwined with political history of Chief Minister Y.S.  Jagan Mohan Reddy pitchforked into prominence. The political trajectory of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy took a sudden shift at Pavuralagutta as he promised to visit the bereaved families who had lost their breadwinners, unable to bear the shock of sudden death of Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy. These family visits popularly called “Odarpu Yatra” irked then Congress government forcing Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy to walk alone by floating YSR Congress. And the rest is history.

The Smrithi Vanam or the memorial garden was aptly conceived by the Congress government led by former chief minster K. Rosaiah and accorded all sanctions but the succeeding Telugu Desam government neglected it without providing any financial help. It was kept alive by the visitors who paid entry fees to sustain the supporting staff and minor repairs, said Atmakur DFO Sambangi Venkatesh.

YSR Smrithi Vanam, developed near the crash site of YSR at Nallakaluva near Atmakur is in for a face lift now. Developed in an area of 22 acres, a part of Nallamala, the Vanam has a 22-feet statue of YSR and a photo gallery which draws a good number of crowd on weekends. Mr Reddy is expected to make it a more deserving heritage of YSR.

The Vanam has theme gardens like a neem garden.