Major pilgrim centres getting a facelift

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, DEC. 6. A ropeway at Srisailam and visitors' zones at four major temples are among the projects taken up by the Endowments department to improve facilities for pilgrims.

The 400-metre ropeway, costing Rs. 1.5 crores, would be ready in about six months. A 100-room guest house complex is ready for inauguration at Srisailam. With this, pilgrims would have an accommodation of more than 500 rooms on the hill.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, the Commissioner of Endowments, Mr.S.M. Balasubramanyam, said the department was spending around Rs. 35.75 crores for construction of multi- choultries, VIP guest houses, dormitories, roads and electrification at all 10 major temple towns -- Srisailam, Simhachalam, Annavaram, Dwaraka Tirumala, Vijayawada, Srikalahasti, Vemulavada, Yadagirigutta, Bhadrachalam and Basara.

Visitors' zones would be developed at Simhachalam, Srisailam, Annavaram and Bhadrachalam.

In the last three years, additional accommodation of about 750 rooms in addition to dormitories and donor cottages had been created. Sanitation in these institutions had been handed over to Sulabh Society, which would maintain toilet blocks, street cleaning and garbage disposal.

The Commissioner said major temples were yielding an annual income of over Rs. 230 crores and a part of it was being ploughed back to improve amenities for the pilgrims. Srisailam, Annavaram and Yadagirigutta had been identified as pressure areas and the Endowments Department was working in tandem with the Tourism, Forest and other departments to ``revamp'' temple complexes.

Mr. Balasubramanyam said online communication facility, linking all ten major temples with the office of the Commissioner, was being developed by the Computer Maintenance Corporation Limited at a cost of over Rs. 1.60 crores. With the creation of this facility within the next three months, it would be possible to monitor the activities of temples from Hyderabad. Central booking of cottage facilities and other services would also be possible.

Another important programme taken up by the department was cleaning up of ``pushakarinis'' (lakes) under the watershed programme over a period of four years with an allocation of Rs 8.29 crores. The rentals on properties owned by temples had improved from Rs 12 crores to Rs 18 crores. So far, about 523 acres of land had been sold in public auction and more Rs 25.53 crores was realised. Permission was accorded to acquire more than 4,400 acres of land from charitable and religious institutions for providing house sites to the houseless poor belonging to the weaker sections. Plantation was taken up on over 4,225 acres.

The Commissioner explained that there were 138 temples of 6 (A) category( with an annual income of above Rs. 5 lakhs), 903 institutions of 6(B) category (with annual income between Rs 50,000 and Rs 5 lakhs) and 32,000 temples of 6 (C) category (below Rs 50,000 annual income). Cadre strength and wage fixation for 290 institutions of the 6(A) and 6 (B) had been filed in consonance with the Supreme Court judgment on fixation of payscales for archakas. In respect of others, the wage fixation was in progress.

The Commissioner said the department had completed a monumental renovation work at Kotappakonda in Guntur district in record time of one year at a cost of Rs 2.50 crores. This shrine had emerged as the 11th biggest in the State.

The department had taken up revamping the ``less known'' temples like Kanipakam in Chittoor district and the Sun temple at Srikakulam.

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Section  : Southern States
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