Bhavanis express displeasure over poor facilities near bathing ghats near Durga temple in Vijayawada

Bhavanis who are visiting the Sri Durga Malleswara Swamywarla Devasthanam from the northern part of Andhra Pradesh to relinquish their deeksha have expressed disappointment at the inadequate toilet and bathroom facilities near the bathing ghats along the Krishna river.  

Srimusuru Ramakrishna, aged 35, who was a part of the group of 43 Bhavanis that came from Srikakulam by a private vehicle, said that they had to wait more than an hour to use the bio-toilets.  

“There were not more than 50 bio-bathrooms and toilets. Since we came in a group, we all went together to have darshan at the temple. It took nearly two hours for all of us to freshen up. Some of us could not use the toilet until we had the darshan as we were getting late,” he said, adding that the shower baths arranged on the ghats put some women in their group into inconvenience as men and women were having a bath at the same place. “There was no separate section for women,” he said.   

The members, many of whom took up the deeksha for the first time, said that they did not understand where the queue lines began. 

But the members of the group said they were happy that they did not have to wait for long in the queue lines. “We spent more time outside the bathrooms than we spent in queue lines. Some 20 people were waiting in a queue outside every unit,” Mr. Ramakrishna said.  

Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) Chief Engineer M. Prabhakar Rao said 118 bathrooms and toilets had been arranged on all the ghats.

“When there is a sudden influx of 60 devotees in the peak hours, they will have to wait for 30 to 40 minutes. We have been increasing the number of bathrooms and toilets by 5% every year. We did not expect so many devotees in the last two days. On other days, we did not receive any such complaint,” he said.