Even as the government is making all-out efforts to retain the old world charm of the Amaravati heritage town, residents here await remedies to fundamental issues that plague their life.
The ancient town of Amaravati is a village panchayat in Guntur revenue division, located on the banks of the Krishna river. The new capital of Andhra Pradesh has been named after this important historic town which had served as the capital of the Satavahana kingdom in ancient days.
The recent Krishna Pushkarams brought some of the long-neglected areas into the limelight. Although development projects happened at a remarkably rapid pace at this pilgrim centre only some of the works were completed.
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Post-Pushkarams, the situation has come back to square one, complain the locals.
The pig menace is back to haunt the local residents. Several spots that had turned breeding ground for pigs were identified and cleared of the animals during Pushkarams. But the pigs are back now, rummaging through garbage strewn at places.
An encroached patch of land adjacent to Krishnaveni ghat now greets pilgrims visiting for a holy dip with a pigsty. “Half-a-dozen piglets trot around the enclosure with an adult one guarding them all the time,” says Ankam Babu, who works as a mechanic in a local shop.
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Drainage works stopped
Drainage works started during Pushkarams have been stopped abruptly. “We don’t have drinking water facility. Water pumped at Goranki drinking water plant in Guntur is supplied to us but it is far from adequate. Roads are wide now thanks to Pushkarams but in the absence of speed-breakers speeding vehicles criss-cross posing grave threat to lives. This is because do we not have a traffic police wing here,” says Babu Lal, a member of Amaravati Heritage Society, a civil society formed recently.
The village panchayat does not have a fire station either. “In the event of a fire mishap, fire tenders are brought either from Guntur, Sattenapalli, Krosur or Mangalagiri, located at a distance of 33 km. A fire station is the need of the hour,” says Babu Lal.
Women outnumber men in this ancient village. “A women police station will go a long way in solving the problems of the fairer sex. There are no public toilets around and we also need permanent changing rooms at the bathing ghats. This is essential because during the Karthika ‘maasam’ and other auspicious occasions, we have a floating crowd of 25,000-50,000 pilgrims visiting the temple here on a single day,” says Gogineni Vijaya Lakshmi, president of Amaravati Mahila Samithi.