Minister for Endowment, Law and Housing A. Indrakaran Reddy said that the government had taken upon itself the serious task of conducting the Godavari Pushkaralu, which comes once every 12 years, on a grand scale in the new State of Telangana.
The number of pushkar ghats will be increased to 104 as against the 27 built for the last puskharalu. An amount of Rs.500 crore was allocated for the mega event, he said while inaugurating the ghats in Balkonda constituency on Thursday. Of the total budget for the pushkaralu, Rs.100 crore will be spent on irrigation works, Rs.242 crore on roads, Rs.20 crore for renovation of old temples and Rs.14 crore for drinking water supply, said the Minister. The celebrations will be held from Kandakurthi, the confluence of three rivers in Renjal mandal down to Khammam district and over 8 crore devotees as against three crore last time are expected to attend the present pushkaralu to be held from July 14 to 25, he added.
