http://www.thehindu.com/2004/08/25/stories/2004082511160300.htm
Plaque with Gandhiji's name left to rot
By M. Rajeev
VIJAYAWADA, AUG. 24. The intensified efforts to spruce up the city for the Krishna Pushkarams notwithstanding, the official machinery appears to be ignoring a few landmarks of historical importance in the city.
While Governments are striving to preserve for posterity the places visited and things used by prominent people, a plaque marking the inauguration of the High Level Reservoir to cater to the drinking water needs of the city by the Father of the Nation is lying in a shambles here. Mahatma Gandhi inaugurated the scheme in the presence of the then Municipal chairman, Ayyadevara Kaleswara Rao, and the vice-chairman, G. K. Reddy, going by the inscription on the plaque.
Unseen in city
The plaque, with the inscription "High Level Reservoir opened by Mahatma Gandhiji on 11th of April 1929" is not located in some isolated area. Now surrounded by thick shrubs, it lies right in the heart of the city, in the vicinity of the Arundel Choultry near the Indrakeeladri hills.
New in, old out
The city has grown in its size in terms of population and dimensions and new systems, dispensing with the old high-level reservoir, were put in place. But, old-timers feel that the officials should have taken care to preserve structures like these.
"I don't exactly remember the inauguration of the scheme by Mahatma Gandhi as it is not mentioned in any souvenir. But, since there is a well-marked plaque on the spot, Gandhiji should have inaugurated it.
The reservoir was the first protected drinking water scheme for the city and such memories and articles associated with them should be preserved," the former Mayor, Jandhyala Shankar, says.
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