more-in Managing Director of the A.P. Greening & Urban Beautification Corporation N. Chandramohan Reddy here on Sunday said a survey along one side of the Krishna would be conducted for its beautification. Mr. Reddy, flagging off a clean-up and running session by the Amaravati Walkers and Runners Association (AWARA) on the riverbed under the Varadhi, instructed Department of Horticulture zonal manager Ramarao to rope in the Revenue Department for the survey. “Once government land on higher areas along the bank is identified, we’ll plant saplings to prevent soil erosion and facilitate a clean environment for walkers and runners,” Mr. Reddy told AWARA founder Ajay Katragadda. ‘Connect with rivers’ Addressing 100 walkers, including horticulturist K. Pundarikakshudu, he said, “ I have close association with rivers as my village is located on the banks of the Penna in Kadapa district. This river reminds me of childhood and we have responsibility to protect it.” He assured members of AWARA, which also trains slums children from Gunadala and orphans at Heal Paradise Village, of support from the corporation to clean the river and make its surroundings green. Exhorting members to preserve the river, he said humans were responsible for disturbing the natural cycle and they had to set things right. Runners ran on a trail cleared of shrubs and filth by volunteers. At the end of the session that began at 5.30 a.m. Mr. Ajay gave away cash prizes to those who had ran till the railway bridge and back covering 5 km, and gifts to best walkers. Over the past six years, AWARA volunteers have cleared the riverbed of plastic filth and counselled people defecating in the open and drug peddlers on the bed, he said.

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