Meeting held to review preparedness for Godavari Pushkaram Endowments Commissioner Y.V. Anuradha on Wednesday asked the West Godavari district administration to initiate measures to arrest the pollution of the Godavari river. Speaking at a review meeting, she highlighted the need for upkeep of the ‘holy’ ambience of the river and to provide a good environment for the visiting pilgrims during the Godavari Pushkarams, scheduled to be held next year. Ms. Anuradha, who worked in the capacity of Joint Collector of the district during the previous Pushkarams in 2002, favoured strong measures against recurrence of complaints pouring in pertaining to sanitation and river pollution which happened during the event last. Use of the river banks for open defecation by people in the twin Godavari districts was a major concern which had made the river unfit for a ‘holy’ dip during the Pushkarams, she pointed out. Ms. Anuradha instructed the district administration to come out with an action plan to check open defecation on the river banks. She also highlighted the need to focus on construction of individual sanitary latrines (ISLs) and launch awareness campaigns against open defecation in villages along the river course in the run up to the Godavari Pushkarams. Further, the Endowments Commissioner told the officials to lay focus on safety of pilgrims by initiating measures against the possible stampede at bathing ghats, deployment of medical teams and expert swimmers during the event. Endowments Assistant Commissioner said that 120 temples had been identified in the region for renovation works involving a cost of Rs. 10 crore. Collector Katamneni Bhaskar chaired the session.