All arrangements for the 12-day holy event of ‘Godavari Pushakarlu’ beginning on July 14 are in place across five districts in Telangana through which the Godavari flows, except the blessings of rain god.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will inaugurate pushkaralu by taking a dip in the river waters at 6.21 a.m. at Dharmapuri in Karimnagar district.
Spiritual leaders, including Tridandi Srimannarayana Chinna Jeeyar Swamy, are expected to take the holy dip in the initial ‘muhurtham’ moments itself at different places. Chinna Jeeyar Swamy is likely to pay tributes to the river goddess at Bhadrachalam.
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The State government has spent about Rs. 600 crore on the arrangements for the event that recurs every 12 years with a majority amount being spent on the construction of bathing ghats, roads and basic amenities.
Official sources stated that about Rs. 100 crore was spent on construction of 79 new bathing ghats in addition to repairing the 27 existing bathing ghats that were constructed in 2003 at 57 places in Nizamabad, Adilabad, Karimnagar, Warangal and Khammam districts.
Minister for Endowments A. Indrakaran Reddy stated that the government is expecting a turnout of about 6 to 8 crore pilgrims to the bathing ghats in the State this time for taking a holy dip against about 3 crore last time. The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) has decided to operate 2,270 special buses to transport pilgrims.
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The Irrigation Department has sunk wells in the river bed to pump water to taps at the bathing ghats at some places in Warangal district due to lack of flow in the river course. The Rural Water Supply, Police and Health Departments have also made elaborate arrangements.
However, the river course is wearing a “desert” look at almost all the places where pilgrims are expected to take holy dip as the meagre water flow, ensured by release of about 3,000 cusecs of water from Sriramsagar project, 700 cusecs from Kadem project and a small amount of water flowing down the Babli barrage in Maharashtra, is covering only a small portion of river bed.
The Chief Minister is understood to have spoke to Maharashtra Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao on Sunday with a request to suggest that government to release some water into the Godavari.