Nava Nirmana Deeksha costs nearly Rs 1 crore for cash-strapped Andhra Pradesh
Vijayawada: While the Chief Minister reiterates that the state is cash-strapped and needs financial support, the money spent from state's exchequer for the Nava Nirmana Deeksha seems a little too high for the three-hour-long meeting held in Vijayawada on Tuesday.
It must be noted that at the Nava Nirmana Deeksha programme to mark the completion of one year after bifurcation and a pledge to build a world class state, the CM claimed that AP government left Hyderabad empty handed and needs financial support from the Centre.
However, for the same venue from where Mr Naidu addressed the people of Andhra Pradesh, the government had to spend over Rs 98 lakh.
“Had the event been organised at a place like Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation stadium or at the PWD grounds, it wouldn’t have cost as much to the government,” said P.N. Raju, assistant manager of a bank in the city.
As Benz Circle was chosen as the venue, the arrangements on roads including the dais, screens on all four roads for public amounted to a lot of money for the government. Meanwhile, as per GO No. 542 of panchayat raj and rural development, the government sanctioned Rs 98 lakh for the meeting at Benz Circle as part of the Nava Niramana Deeksha and Janmabhoomi Maa Vooru programmes to be organised at the state level in city from June 2 to June 7.
Meanwhile, the Nava Nirmana Deeksha held at Benz Circle, the very heart of the city, choked the flow of traffic on the arterial roads of Vijayawada on Tuesday. Traffic on both sides of MG Road, National Highway and others were blocked between 8 am and 12 pm.
Two and four-wheelers were were diverted on alternative roads like Pantakalava Road, Gurunanak Nagar Road, Five Route, Netaji Bridge Road and others to ensure that the venue was kept free from vehicular movement. This forced the motorists to take longer routes and internal roads to reach their destinations around Benz Circle.
Vehicular congestion was seen at Executive Club Junctions, Mahanadu Road Junction on National Highway within the city. However, diverting heavy vehicular traffic on the two National Highways helped reduce the traffic jams by some extent.
“There was no need for the programme to be conducted on such a busy road where at least 50,000 vehicles ply on a daily basis.
Holding meetings on the roads puts the public into deep trouble,” said a motorist K. Prabhu Kumar at Maris Stella College.
Meanwhile, several organisations and commercial establishments near the programme venue remained closed for half day in view of the security arrangements of the Chief Minister. Since the venue was located very close to a high capacity petrol pump on Benz Circle, security personnel ensured that the fuel reserves in the underground tanks were cleared a day before.
