Sammakka, Saralamma festival, Godavari pushkaras, to be organised as prestigious events

Hyderabad: Plans should be formulated from now itself for organising Sammakka, Saralamma festival and Godavari Pushkaras on a prestigious scale, suggested Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka and Endowment Minister Konda Surekha to the officials.

As part of pre Budget meetings, a meeting was held at the Secretariat with the Endowment and Forest departments on Tuesday.

The Ministers said that as works were being taken up with hundreds of crores, the officials should plan these works on a permanent basis so that they would be useful in the future too. The officials should start the exercise right away for the works to be taken up on a permanent basis, they said.

The Deputy Chief Minister and Minister Surekha directed the officials to draw plans for attracting tourists across the country to forest areas with Tiger Reserves in the State.

"The development of urban parks in the surroundings of Hyderabad will help IT sector employees and their families to relax during week-ends, helping the departments earn revenue," they said.

Bhatti Vikramarka suggested that the Archaeology department take up renovation work of ancient temples. "Temples promote spiritual attitude among people and it will also help the financial situation of the State. With spirituality comes discipline in the lives of people," Vikramarka hoped.

The Ministers later discussed the master plans for the development of six main temples in the State.

The Deputy Chief Minister advised the officials to take up works under CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) on a big scale and protect the greenery. The Employment Guarantee scheme be used to take up works like check dams.

There are 59 urban parks in and surroundings of Hyderabad and they should be developed to enable in the relaxation of city residents from the stressful life, Bhatti said. Konda Surekha and Bhatti Vikramarka asked the officials to explore ways to increase income through urban parks.

The Vanamahotsav programme should be organised on a grand scale and students should be given partnership in this. By planting plants of two to two and a half feet, there may be possibility of better survival of plants, they felt.

Special Chief Secretary Ramakrishna Rao, Forest department Principal Secretary Ahmed Nadeem, Endowment department Principal Secretary Sailaja Rama Aiyar, Forest Department Chief Conservator Dobriyal and others attended.