Another ghat road to Simhachalam on anvil

Visakhapatnam: In a step to streamline the traffic for those visiting Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Devasthanam, proposals are underway to facilitate another ghat road.

For decades, the temple has had a single ghat road. During weekends, special occasions and holidays, vehicular movement used to get impacted due to traffic congestions.

After making proposals for years, a second ghat road was laid as part of the temple master plan. However, this ghat road connects with the existing one at Dasavatharam junction uphill which stretches till half the way towards the main temple and BRTS road downhill.

In connection with the new proposal, the spot where both the ghat roads connect at Dasavatharam junction would be widened to an extent of 2.5-km long. This apart, another new ghat road was proposed by the endowments department officials.

Based on repeated appeals, district collector A Mallikarjuna, GVMC commissioner C M Saikanth Varma, executive officer of Simhachalam Devasthanam S Srinivasa Murthy and officials from R&B, endowments, engineering, police departments and Devasthanam held a meeting and discussed the proposals in detail.

According to the officials, the newly-proposed ghat road would commence from uphill to downhill (one-way) where vehicles return from Devasthanam. From the TV tower on the hill to the BRTS (old Goshala junction), the new ghat road would be connected, stretching up to 6-km. The collector said that the proposal was made keeping the future requirements in view. “The temple officials made a couple of proposals, including the ghat road connecting to old Goshala and another one connecting to new Goshala. Depending on the requirement, a favourable decision would be taken to meet the growing traffic needs for the next 20 to 30 years.”