Andhra Pradesh: Pollution, Neglect Hinder Holy Dips at Godavari Ghats

Kakinada: Godavari is a ‘sacred’ river where lakhs throng to take a holy dip on a regular basis. Several ghats in the Rajamahendravaram city famous for the dips are however in inhospitable conditions.

These ghats are filled with mud and devotees face difficulty stepping into the waters. Decades back, every ghat there was in good condition and people used to spend hours there, relaxing and swimming in the river.

Now, it is very difficult to take a holy dip for even a minute or two minutes, the faithful say. There are 11 ghats there – the Kotilingala, Chintalamma, Sankara, Kanaka Durga, Pushkara, Markandeya, Vydhyanath, Padmavahi, Saraswathi, VIP and Saraswathi. Another one, the Subbayamma ghat, is no more suitable for a holy dip.

According to officials, the river is polluted due to the flowing in of sewer waters of Rajamahendravaram city as also such from other villages in Sithanagaram and other mandals. Along with this, mud is also reaching the ghats.

In the auspicious Karthika Masa, the Rajamahendravaram municipal corporation dumped sand in the ghats to overcome this problem.

There were calls to the irrigation department to do dredging at the ghats once a month to remove the garbage and drainage waste in these ghats. This has not happened. People's representatives are not paying any attention to this issue. Irrigation officials cite the problem of lack of funds to do the dredging.

Lots of the faithful reach Kotilingala ghat for auspicious and other events. The burial ground there is used for performing the last rites of the dead. This ghat is spread over a distance of 1.5km, while the total length of the other ghats is 4.5km.

Municipal engineer Panduranga Rao told Deccan Chronicle, “We are trying to find a permanent solution to the problem by the time of the next Godavari Pushkaralu in 2027. A plan is to increase the length of the existing ghats to reduce the pilgrimage rush. There are unauthorised ghats in several places and these have to be cleaned and developed.”

Godavari Parirakshana Samithi president TK Visweswara Reddy undertook a campaign for cleaning and purifying the river. Following this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sanctioned a fund of Rs 54 crore and the YSRC government Rs 34 crore. The RMC’s share was Rs 7 crore. Yet, only 15 per cent of the works have been completed.

As per the plan, 50 MLD of sewage water would be purified in the sewage treatment plant in Hukumpeta. After this, purified water will be let out into Dowleswaram.

According to Reddy, AP Paper Mills is releasing its effluents into the ponds in Turpulanka village near Venkatanagaram. Once the tanks get filled with the effluent, the wastewater from them is being released into the river, he said.

“Nearly 30MLD of wastewater is released by the company and the people's representatives are not bothered. The management is giving funds under CSR for cleaning the river, but these funds are not being utilized for this purpose,” he said.

Local MP Margani Bharati too has not been of much help. He came up with a Godavari cleansing project on the lines of the Ganga River Plan, but it did not progress. After the recent elections, no such effort has been undertaken.