Warangal: After years of neglect, the district administration finally set its eyes on the ancient stepwell in Shivanagar which is known locally to be Queen Rudrama Devi’s swimming pool.
Responding to a story published in the columns of this newspaper on Sunday, district collector Amrapali Kata and GWMC commissioner Sruthi Ojha inspected it on Monday and directed officials to take steps for its revival.
The well which was in a bad state till now was cleaned by the GWMC sanitation workers. The undergrowth on the top-level of the three-storied well was removed. The garbage dumped in the well was removed and the corridors which reeked of foul smell were cleaned.
Officials from the archaeology, tourism, revenue, RWS and other departments inspected the well.
The district collector and the GWMC commissioner inspected the first-level of the well and spoke to local archaeologist Aravind Arya Pakide who narrated the historical importance of the well and its architectural significance.
The collector discussed with the district tourism officer measures that needed to be taken to turn it into a tourism spot. She enquired about the depth and dimensions of the well.
"This is our first inspection of the well. We will take reports from all departments and draw a plan of action for the revival of the well. We will be able to speak about our plan only after two weeks. For now, we have decided to clean up the well," Ms. Amrapali said.
Archaeologist Aravind, who has been studying the well for the last couple of year, thanked the collector for her readiness to preserve the well. He appealed to her to allocate funds for the development of the stepwell from schemes like HRIDAY as Warangal has been recognised as a heritage city and the well would remain as another masterpiece to showcase the history of Warangal.
