GUNTUR: The State Government’s initiative to make Kondaveedu Kota a tourist destination by preserving its past glory with the initiative taken by Endowments Ministers Gade Vekata Reddy has led to a flurry of activity for laying a Ghat Road and improving the approach through steps.

The Road and Buildings Department led by its Executive Engineer Pingali Satish have been surveying the hillock slopes for laying a 5.1 km road from Puttakota to the hill-top cantonment of the Reddy kings, who ruled this region for over 100 years from 1325 A.D., and on Wednesday the team while marking the final survey points, stumbled upon a 14th Century black granite Nandi inside a thick growth of trees and bushes.

Ornamental carving on the nandi displayed the art and heritage of those times, but seems to have been thrown from the top of the hill, which had damaged some portions like its horns etc. The entire nandi was covered with soil that seemed to have accumulated over a period of several decades and it was the first one to be found on the slopes.

About 2 feet in height and four feet in length, it was sitting pretty at the centre of the new finalised alignment of the Ghat Road.

The R&B Executive Engineer Pingali Satish said that the entire makings with 18 hair-pin bends and other data on requirement of culverts and retaining walls was being analysed and design for these would be sent to Hyderabad within a week, which would lead to beginning of tendering process.

Meanwhile, there was a demand from the Kondaveedu and Kota villagers for survey of possibility of laying a ghat road from western face of the hill also and the work on survey for this road would begin on Friday after District Collector B. Ramanjaneyulu directed the Department to conduct the survey.

The Kondaveedu Development Committee Convener K. Siva Reddy also appealed to the District Collector and R&B Department to quickly make a survey on feasibility of laying a ghat road from Western Side also so that there would be an alternative route.

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