Amaravati: The important works of ghat constructions for prestigious Krishna Pushkaralu are going on at a snail’s pace.
The state government is taking Krishna Pushkaralu as a prestigious programme and directed the officials to complete the works swiftly. The biggest ghat of Krishna Pushkaralu has been proposed at old Amaravati with a length of 1.5 km. New Pushkar ghats were proposed at Rayapudi and other areas and July 15 was put as the deadline for the completion of works.
But, the slow pace of the works of the biggest ghat and other ghats seems to fail to reach the deadline. As many as eight new ghats were proposed in the new capital Amaravati at Dhyana Buddha statue , Amaralingeswara Swami temple, Tallayapalem, Harischa-ndrapuram, Rayapudi, Uddandarayunipalem, and Seethanagaram.
But works were started only at Dhyana Buddha statue and Amaralingeswara temple. Nearly 70,000 devotees took a dip per day during the last Krishna Pushkarlu at old Amaravati ghat.
As the new capital Amaravati is announced and temporary Secretariat will start functioning from June 15 at Velagapudi, the officials are expecting arrival of nearly one lakh devotees per day to the Amaralingeswara temple ghat at old Amaravati.
An official said that everyone wants to see the new capital, so the public from 13 districts of the AP will come to old Amaravati for holy Pushakarlu and to see the proposed new capital Amaravati location at Uddandarayunipalem.
As many as 80 Pushkar ghats were proposed on the side of Guntur district on the banks of Krishna river and the government sanctioned Rs 205 crore for Pushkar ghat works. The 1.5 km new ghat at the Dhyana Buddha statue is the biggest ghat.
Besides this, another Pushkar ghat adjacent to Amaralingeswara temple is also proposed. The officials planned to link the two ghats for the convenience of the the devotees. But sthe works are going on at a snails pace as only levelling of the ghat surface is under progress.
Priests G.S. Sarma and others said that the officials planned to set up a platform to enter into the Amaralingeswara temple from Buddha statue and temple ghat but the intake wells present on the banks of the Krishna river are hurdles.
They expressed dissatisfaction that at least the primary basement of the longest ghat was not constructed despite having only 55 days time for tye commencement of the Pushkaralu, the works would be stopped if the rainy season starts.
