HYDERABAD: All the roads heading to Vijayawada, Warangal, Kurnool and other parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are packed with lakhs of people travelling to their native places for Sankranti festivities.
Whether it is rail, air, bus or private vehicles, the people are moving out of Hyderabad to their hometowns in whichever mode of transportation is available and affordable. Despite the prevalence of Omicron, there is no fear among the people as they are in a hurry to reach their homes.
At Pantangi Toll Plaza in Nalgonda district, the vehicles bound for Vijaywada and destinations beyond, have been moving very slowly. The situation is better compared to previous years after the advent of FASTags. On average, 50,000 vehicles are crossing the toll plaza per day in this festive season. To clear the festive rush, the South Central Railway (SCR) is operating over 100 special trains from Secunderabad to Narsapur, Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Machilipatnam, Tirupati, Anakapalle, Vijayawada and other parts of Andhra Pradesh.
However, tickets in sleeper and AC classes in regular trains like Hyderabad-Vizag Godavari Express, Lingampally-Kakinada Goutami Express, Secunderabad-Gudur Simhapuri Express and Secunderabad-Tirupati Padmavathi Express have been sold out long ago and a large number of passengers are on the waiting list.
The Sankranti festive season has given a big boost to railways, which has been seeing less occupancy since the outbreak of Covid-19. The chances of seat confirmation are bleak in regular trains as the waiting list is over 200 in major trains.
To meet the Sankranti rush, TSRTC has been running 984 special buses to places in AP like Vizag, Srikakulam, Bhimavaram, Tenali and Guntur. Within Telangana, 3,300 special buses are being operated. TSRTC vice-chairman and Managing Director VC Sajjanar said that around 20 lakh people have already left for their hometowns in TSRTC buses.
On the other hand, it has become expensive for commuters who want to travel to their homes in private travels. Many private operators have increased their bus fares towards Vijayawada, Kurnool, and Rajahmundry. For instance, the fare in private buses between Hyderabad and Vijayawada has been increased to Rs 2,000 in AC sleeper buses.
Meanwhile, flight tickets, too, have become exorbitant. An economy class ticket between Hyderabad and Vijayawada costs around Rs 5,000, whereas to Vizag the fare is Rs 8,000 on Thursday, a day before Bhogi.
On account of all the above reasons, most of the junctions and roads which lead to highways were jam-packed with traffic. Paradise Junction, Miyapur ‘X’ Roads, Panjagutta Circle, Khairatabad Junction, Uppal ‘X’ Roads and LB Nagar ‘X’ Roads were all brimming with Sankranti rush on Wednesday.