HYDERABAD: The step-well in Secunderabad’s Bansilalpet, which was restored recently, caught Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attention. During his ‘Mann ki Baat’, on Sunday, Modi praised the efforts of officials to restore the structure.
Modi said he was happy as most of the people in India had made water conservation a life mission. “The Bansilalpet step-well is the one such step-well which is centuries-old and is a part of our heritage. This step-well was earlier filled with garbage and debris, but the campaign to revive the step-well has begun.”
Arvind Kumar, municipal administration and urban development special chief secretary, along with some NGOs, had successfully restored the well in January. He said that this was the sixth step-well being restored.
The GHMC along with the NGOs had roped in sanitation workers to remove garbage, silt and debris accumulated over the years.
It took five weeks to restore the 33-foot step-well. The authorities decided to inaugurate the restored step-well on August 15, to mark the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence
The MA&UD department has started work to restore all 140 step-wells in and around the city and some of them have already been restored including Bhagwandas Bagh Baoli and Shiva Bagh Baoli near Gudimalkapur.
