Visakhapatnam district officials mull new ghat road connecting Simhachalam hilltop temple from foothill

Dist. Admin. mulls new ghat road connecting Simhachalam temple from foothill. Proposals discussed incl. TV tower-Old Ghoshala Junction (6km) & Top Hill Road-East Side (4.5km). Committee to study proposals & steps taken for construction. Devasthanam, police, R&B & Tribal Welfare Dept. involved. Solar power plants, parking facility, cottages & plastic ban also discussed. Steps taken to allow devotees to attend 'Suprabhatha Seva' & 'Aaradhana' at temple.

The district administration is mulling to come up with another ghat road connecting the Simhachalam hilltop temple from the foothill in view of future needs, traffic issues and increasing number of devotees year by year. In this regard, District Collector A Mallikarjuna and Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) Commissioner C.M. Saikanth Varma discussed about the proposals with the officials from various departments including police, Roads & Buildings, Simhachalam Devasthanam at the VMRDA office here on Tuesday.

Among the conceptual proposals discussed, one proposal was to construct the new ghat road from TV tower to Old Ghoshala Junction (6 km) and the second one was from Top Hill Road to East Side (Sri Surya Narayana Temple) Krishnapuram Ghoshala (4.5 km). The officials have also discussed the feasibility for extension of Dhasa Avatharam Junction to Uphill Bus Stand (2.5 km)

Mr. Mallikarjuna has said that they will be forming a committee involving Devasthanam, police, R&B, Tribal Welfare Department officials to study these proposals. After the study and report, steps will be taken for the construction of the new ghat road.

Apart from the ghat road constructions, the Collector also asked the officials to develop amenities keeping in view the needs of devotees in the coming 25 to 30 years. He also said that a five acre space should be identified for parking facility. He also said that new cottages should be constructed for the devotees. The Collector also asked the officials to try setting up solar power plants through PPP modes and also said that steps should be taken to ban plastic on the hill.

Mr. Mallikarjuna also asked the officials to take steps so that devotees can attend ‘Suprabhatha Seva’ and ‘Aaradhana’ at the temple.

Simhachalam Devasthanam EO Srinivasa Murthy, Deputy Commissioner of Police K. Anand Reddy and others were present.