A pall of gloom at Amalapuram

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">amalapuram: the tiny town of amalapuram, home constituency of late speaker g m c balayogi, plunged into sorrow as balayogi’s son g harish lit the pyre. thousands of people including women in large numbers, were seen weeping as harish stepped down the specially erected dias after lighting the pyre at the newly christened balayogi ghat.wailing people and heart rending scenes were witnessed when the body was taken onto the decorated dais. “it is an irreparable loss to me as i feel that my brother is no more,� 30-year-old saraswathi of amalapuram said. “it was easy to meet the speaker than our sarpanch. he was so accessible to all the people from this region,� said balayogi’s class teacher pullela bheema sankaram of mummidivaram. tears rolled down his wrinkled cheeks when he recalled that balayogi used to greet him, “<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">mastaru! kulasana?</span> (sir, how do you do?)�. people in large numbers started coming to the balayogi ghat on amalapuram-muktheswaram road after having a last glimpse of the balayogi’s mortal remains in the morning at skbr college premises. thousands of people attended the last rites daring the scorching sun and humid conditions in the afternoon. several towns in the region paid homage to the departed leader by performing pujas to the portraits of balayogi in specially erected shamiyanas. several banners saying balayogi amar rahe were seen on amalapuram streets. amalapuram town bursted at seams with huge number of crowds thronging it for about four hours. though police in large numbers deployed for smooth conduct of funeral, it could not control the crowd which was eager to have a glimpse of the proceedings. the east godavari administration has acquired five acres of the land to develop the ghat on the lines of ntr ghat in hyderabad.another seven acres is yet to be acquired. coconut fields surrounded the ghat on three sides. several people were seen recalling the various developmental works like yanam-edurlanka bridge at a cost of rs 110 crore,rs 350-crore kotipalli-narsapur railway line which were taken up at the instance of balayogi. </div> </div>