Hyderabad: Pandemic-induced overgrown grass in Bapu Ghat gives rise to illicit activities
Bapu Ghat has become home for illicit activities as no visitors are allowed in the area. The memorial is opened up only twice a year - the birth and death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Hyderabad: It has been seven years since the Telangana government’s plan to develop Bapu Ghat remains on paper. Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes were immersed on the lines of Sabarmati Ashram in Bapu Ghat, Ahmedabad.
The lack of maintenance on the memorial dedicated to Gandhiji has become a place for illicit activities. The monument is barely kilometers away from Golconda Fort, where the government is set to celebrate the 75th Independence Day. The area’s locals added that there had been more prominence of nefarious activities, mainly because it has been shut for visitors.
The memorial gets opened up only for VVIP’s on two notable occasions – Mahatma’s birth and death anniversaries.
“Since the ghat is shut for visitors for the past few months, it has become a home to all anti-social elements,” said a resident of Nalanda Nagar in 2014. The state government announced building another hall to the premises and putting a spinning wheel (charkha) and a museum to display rare images of Mahatma and books donated by individuals for public viewing.
According to TOI, the area where the construction has to take place is covered with overgrowing bushes and memorial yearning for an uplift.
The officials responsible for maintaining the structure – Telangana Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) has blamed it on the COVID-19 pandemic.
The managing director of the firm, Birad Rajaram Yajnik, added that the area remains under maintenance, but due to the pandemic, they were unable to use manual equipment, which has resulted in the long grass.
