Vijayawada: Endowments Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy has said the Master plan for development of Sri Durga temple will be finalised by the end of December and efforts are on to increase amenities to the devotees visiting the temple.
The Minister along with Vijayawada MP Kesineni Sivanath and Endowments Commissioner Satyanarayana conducted a review meeting with the officials of the Durga temple at the Maha Mandapam on Sunday. The officials explained the details of the master plan which was prepared in the YSRCP rule. Many works were kept pending and some works are being executed at a sluggish pace. Later, speaking to the media at the Temple, Minister Ramanarayana Reddy said a detailed discussion was made for the development of Sri Durga Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam and how to get funds from the Union government. Minister Anam said the master plan would be finalised by the end of December, 2024.
He said development works will be taken up to meet the requirements of the temple for the next 100 years. He said a detailed project report on the Master plan will be prepared and presented before Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu. He said the master plan development works were started and later stalled due to various reasons. He said the master plan works would be hastened.
He said the Endowments Department will construct waiting rooms, rest rooms and cottages for the convenience of devotees and discussion was made on how to get Central government funds under the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (Prasad) scheme. The Minister informed that the officials gave suggestions for the development of the temple.
Vijayawada MP Kesineni Sivanath said Sri Durga temple is the second biggest temple in the State and number of devotees visiting the temple is increasing gradually. He said the endowments and tourism departments have to work in co-ordination to get the Central government funds under the PRASAD scheme.
He said the temple administration has to take permanent measures to provide amenities to the devotees. He suggested that cottages and waiting rooms should be constructed that are similar to that of Tirumala.
Commissioner of Endowments S Satyanarayana, chief engineer of the Endowments Department GVR Sekhar, temple executive engineers KVS Koteswara Rao, T Vaikuntha Rao and other officials participated in the meeting.
