fter three months of the Godavari Pushkaram, Rajahmundry has once again taken the backseat, except with regard to the change of name from Rajahmundry to Rajamahendravaram.
There are no financial statements available either with the government or Pushkaram officials who received funds to the tune of around Rs. 1,680 crore for the mega event. Except roads and ghats, no other work has been done in East and West Godavari district.
According to Rajahmundry City MLA and BJP leader Akula Satyanarayana, the Rajahmundry Municipal Corporation received Rs. 240 crore, including the 13th Finance Commission funds, during the Pushkarams, and it laid roads and took up drainage works. “Except for one drainage in the city and another on the outskirts, no permanent work was taken up during Pushkarams Phase-I. Moreover, preference was given to roads during the event, but they are all in a bad shape now,” he said. He added that no contractor was keen on completing pending works and those to be taken up under Phase-II.
Senior TDP leader and Rural MLA Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary also expressed anguish over the R&B Department for not accepting his drainage plan connecting Ava channel and Nalla channel with the underground drainage system. “Roads in my constituency were laid in a hurried manner, and the one from Hukumpeta to East Railway Station and those in several places between the main railway station and Dowleswaram have been damaged,” he said.
Ghats ignored
“The Irrigation Department has failed to maintain as many as 267 bathing ghats along the Godavari in both East and West Godavari districts. On the 1.2-km-long Kotilingala Ghat, washermen have been drying clothes, and as a result, tiles have been damaged,” said Kantipudi Sarvarayudu, secretary of Goutami Ghat Spiritual Seva Sangh. Except Goshpadala Revu, maintenance of other ghats in West Godavari has also been poor. Moreover, Gammon India Private Limited, which has taken up the construction of the fourth bridge across the Godavari, has failed to meet the deadline several times, and it has not completed the job of strengthening the box-type bridges near Mahurapudi Airport.
Except for one drainage in the city and another on the outskirts, no permanent work was taken up during Pushkarams Phase-I
Akula Satyanarayana,
Rajahmundry City MLA
