172 new bathing ghats to be constructed

*Over 3 crore devotees expected to take holy dip during the Pushkaralu beginning from August 12
*In run-up to the mega event, 326 temples spread over three districts to get facelift
*19 departments would be roped in to ensure all necessary arrangements are in place
*Endowments Minister P Manikyala Rao says a toll-free number will be made available to people

The State government has decided to organise the ensuing Krishna Pushkaralu in August this year in a big way in Kurnool, Guntur and Krishna districts.

Disclosing this here on Saturday, Endowment Minister P Manikyala Rao said while addressing a press conference that the Krishna Pushkaralu scheduled from August 12 to 23 would be organised in a big way by taking up several development works.

“It is decided to give facelift to 326 temples located in the three districts with an estimated cost of Rs 26.17 crore. While 176 temples are located in Guntur, about 150 temples are located in Krishna district. The endowment department has decided to develop 172 new bathing Ghats in addition to the existing ones in these districts“, he explained.

Accordingly, the department has identified Srisailam, Sangameswaram in Kurnool district, Amaravati and Sithanagaram in Guntur district and Vijayawada, Vedadri, Mopidevi and Hamsala Deevi in Krishna districts as the major places where people take holy dip during the Pushkaralu.

The minister said that, according to the available data, nearly 2.4 crore pilgrims had taken holy dip during 2004 Krishna Pushkaralu. And, this time, about 3 to 3.5 crore pilgrims are estimated to take holy dip.

Taking the estimated number into consideration 19 departments were roped in to take up development works for the development of Ghats, laying approach roads, barricading, water supply and the like.

Manikyala Rao said that steps have been taken to curb irregularities in the endowment departments and a toll free number: 18004256656 will be made available to register grievances and complaints from people, he pointed out.

Biometric attendance in Endowments Department

He said that the department is also introducing biometric and bar-coding attendance system in all endowment institutions in the State to monitor the attendance of the staff.

To make temples self sufficient on energy front, it was decided to issue tenders for setting up a 10 megawatts Solar Power Plant (SPP).

For this, the department has decided to provide its lands free of cost to those who would quote lowest bids to set up the SPP, the minister said.

As part of bringing transparency in the affairs of maintaining the endowment properties, Manikyala Rao said that from coming Ugadi, the Telugu New Year, it was decided to put up display boards before every temple giving details of the properties owned by it. The display includes the names of the encroachers of the temple and other endowment properties, he said.

He said that the endowment department would also be launching a new programme called “Bhaktuni Vaddaku Bhagawanthuni Aasisulu” (Blessings of almighty to the doorsteps of devotees).

As part of this, the priests of the local temples in the village would extend their services to people in their locality or villages in performing rituals associated with several events from birth to death. It was also decided to make available to the people to book more Sevas online from March, the minister said.