Karimnagar: The 12-day long, once-in-a-12-years-river fete Godavari Maha Pushkaralu concluded peacefully barring sporadic incidents of road accidents. A total of 1.72 crore people from various parts of the state and neighbouring Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Karnataka had pushkara snanam at scores of pushkar ghats erected along the shores of the river in the district.
Holding the much publicised maiden river fete of Telangana at one point in time seemed impossible due to unavailability of water in Godavari, following scanty monsoon rainfall. About 2 TMC ft of water had to be released from Sri Ram Sagar Project and Kadem in Nizamabad and Adilabad districts, respectively, which finally made the Pushkarlu snanam possible.
In order to organise Pushkaralu on a grand scale, government had sanctioned Rs 122.78 crore to the district. Elaborate arrangements were made using the funds. A total of 36 pushkar ghats, 30 parking lots and 200 temporary toilets were erected at 22 venues for the mega event. Adequate drinking water facilities were in place too.
