CBI probe into chariot fire progressing, says Revenue Minister

New chariot will be ready in January, Dharmana Krishna Das said.

Ministers Dharmana Krishna Das and Ch. Venu Gopala Krishna performing puja at the Antarvedi temple in East Godavari district on Sunday.

The CBI inquiry into the chariot fire at the Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple here is progressing, Andhra Pradesh Revenue Minister Dharmana Krishna Das has said.

The century-old chariot was gutted inside the temple in East Godavari district in the early hours of September 6, triggering State-wide protests.

A new chariot is being built with teak wood from the Bastar forest in Chhattisgarh at a cost of ₹95 lakh.

Mr. Krishna Das, along with BC Welfare Minister Ch. Venu Gopala Krishna and District Collector D. Muralidhar Reddy, performed puja to the new wood and handed it over to the sculptor, Ganapathi Acharyulu. He will have to make the 40-feet-high chariot ready by mid-January 2021, which is the deadline set by the government.

“Aim is to get the chariot ready for the ‘kalyanotsav’ scheduled in February 19 and 28, 2021,” said Mr. Venu Gopala Krishna.

The BC Welfare Minister is closely monitoring the project – right from the selection of the teak wood to finalising the chariot’s design.

The new chariot is being built with 1,250 cubic feet of teak wood grown in the Bastar forest in Chhattisgarh by spending ₹95 lakh.

Rajole MLA Rapaka Vara Prasad, Amalapuram Sub-Collector Himanshu Kaushik, Endowments Department Regional Joint Commissioner D. Bramaramba, and temple Executive Officer Y. Bhadraji were present.