HYDERABAD: With the State government extending holidays and more private firms adopting measures like Work From Home (WFH), most of the people who had left Hyderabad to celebrate the Sankranti festival have decided to extend their stay in their native places to protect themselves from Covid.
The phenomenon of cars making a beeline and hours of snarls at toll plazas after the extended weekend or post-festival rush towards the city was not seen this time.
Some two lakh vehicles had left Hyderabad through the Pantangi toll plaza alone before Sankranti towards different places in AP, but a majority of them have not returned. Despite Monday being the first working day of the week, the route witnessed a smooth flow of traffic.
“During normal days, around 20,000 to 30,000 vehicles pass through this route daily. An average of 45,000 vehicles, mostly cars, crossed this route every day for five days prior to the festival. However, a majority of those did not return. We had been prepared to handle the festival rush. This may have got something to do with the fact that the State government has extended holidays for schools,” observed, M Vijay Mohan, a traffic inspector at Choutuppal.
Even as most of the IT companies continued WFH as part of measures to contain Covid, some of those who were staying in Hyderabad till now have decided to camp at their native places at least till the end of the month.
“I have decided to stay for at least one-and-a-half months to avoid the possibility of getting Covid. I don’t want to take any chances, as I reside in an apartment in the city where several families were infected earlier. Villages are sparsely populated and my family will be safer here,” explained Ch Siva Sankar, a native of Seesali in West Godavari, who resides near JNTU in Hyderabad and travelled in his four-wheeler.
A similar was seen at the various toll plazas leading to Hyderabad. The Renigunta toll plaza on Karimnagar highway, which had witnessed huge traffic snarls following Dasara, had a smooth flow of traffic this Sunday.