Pushkaram: Weekend rush chokes highways in AP, Telangana

Unprecedented traffic put authorities in a spot on Saturday even as the governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana made necessary arrangements to manage the heavy weekend rush of devotees at the Godavari Pushkaram.

Twenty lakh pilgrims took holy dips in the Godavari River in Rajahmundry since 3 am on Saturday, making the authorities’ task of monitoring more challenging.

The bathing ghats are being watched round the clock since the stampede of July 14 that killed 27 people.

Time management has also made it more gruelling for each pilgrim has been taking hours to complete three holy dips in the river. The original estimation was just six minutes for each person.

But it is the failure in estimating the number of vehicles which has created the biggest headache for the authorities. Major junctions in both Andhra and Telangana got congested because of too many vehciles.

The toll gates on Chennai-Kolkata national highway saw the traffic coming to a standstill, forcing the collectors of both East and West Godavari districts to request the toll plaza operators to release the vehicles immediately without charging any fees.

Children and elderly people faced immense difficulty because of the traffic congestion. Many even had to walk miles to reach their destinations.

Highways leading to Dharmapuri, Basara, Bhadrachalam, Mangapet and Kaleswaram in Telangana also witnessed similar problems. “We will sit with authorities tonight and chalk out plans for Sunday’s  rush,” Telangana Deputy CM Kadiam Srihari said.

"We are expecting massive influx of pilgrims due to the two consecutive holidays. We have made necessary arrangements.

Andhra Pradesh Home Minister N Chinarajappa said his government has also made necessary arrangements to meet the extra rush over the weekend.

He also urged people to postpone their travel plans till tomorrow.

Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Director General of Police J Ramudu were in the master control room in Rajahmundry on Saturday directing authorities over satellite phones.

“I have urged the rice mille operators to be more generous and help feed as many pilgrims as possible,” Naidu said in a press conference.

He also said that all 300 APSRTC buses that were pressed into Pushkaram duty were fitted with GPS technology enabling the control room to direct the pilgrims to bathing ghats with considerably less rush.

The CM also visited the ghats, railway stations, goods sheds and took stock of the arrangements and facilities.