Rajahmundry: The number of devotees turning up at the bathing ghats to take holy dip and perform rituals on the eve of Godavari Antya Pushkaralu is going up on the second day in Godavari districts on Monday. As Monday being an auspicious day, several devotees take holy dip in Godavari river as a practice for a long time and with the addition of Godavari fete, the number of devotees visiting the ghats has gone up.

The civic authorities had come up with an estimate of nearly 45,000 devotees took part in the holy dip in Godavari river in East Godavari on Sunday. On Monday, by 6.00 pm, the number of devotees who visited 15 bathing ghats from Kotilingala to Jonnada in East Godavari is nearing one lakh. The civic authorities are maintaining the sanitation at the ghats by lifting the garbage on a regular basis and master swimmers with boats are keeping guard of the devotees taking dip in the river along the edges of bathing ghats.

The civic authorities are taking up edge chlorination at the ghats and dumping sand at the edges of the ghats to help devotees not to get stuck up in slush in the river bed. Civic authorities are screening one old film a day at Kotilingala ghat as more number of devotees is visiting it in the evening to provide them some entertainment. Security personnel are keeping close watch at the ghats and at main centres in the city to avoid any trouble to the devotees.

In West Godavari, at Kovvur and Narasapuram, devotees are turning up from the early hours and taking dip in the river. The authorities are expecting the number of devotees visiting the ghats to rise further in the days ahead.