RTC, railways add ‘Mela Surcharge’ in view of the huge rush
Devotees will have to pay extra to travel by road, rail or air to reach Rajahmundry, Kovvur and other towns in Godavari districts to take part in the ensuing Godavari Pushkaralu as APSRTC.
Rajahmundry: Devotees will have to pay extra to travel by road, rail or air to reach Rajahmundry, Kovvur and other towns in Godavari districts to take part in the ensuing Godavari Pushkaralu as APSRTC, Railways and private airlines will be hiking fares.
As nearly 3 crore devotees from all across the country are expected to visit Rajahmundry and Kovvur to take a holy dip in Godavari during the 12-day Pushkaralu, the railways is running as many as 503 special trains including 58 reserved services, Diesel Electric Multiple Units, Mainline Electric Multiple Units and general services.
These special trains will connect Hyderabad, Tirupati, Dharmavaram, Visakhapatnam, Palasa and other important stations. The railway authorities intend to enhance the fares as a “Mela Surcharge” in four slabs: Rs 5, Rs 10, Rs 15 and Rs 20. Fares of general category tickets and Sleeper Class will be hiked by Rs 5, Third AC by Rs 10, Second AC by Rs 15 and AC First Class by Rs 20. The surcharge will be imposed on tickets that cost a minimum of Rs 15. The new fares will be effective between July 14 and 25.
South Central Railway additional general manager Umesh Singh, who arrived in Hyderabad to inspect the progress of works being taken up for Pushkaralu at the three railway stations, confirmed the fare hike. He said, “The passenger fare hike in the name of ‘Mela Surcharge’ is a normal practice in the Railways as they do so during any such mega event. We are expecting to transport nearly 32 lakh devotees from several parts of the country during the event to Rajahmundry, Kovvur and Godavari.”
APSRTC is also hiking fares by about 25 per cent during the 12 days of the festival. Officials are expecting to receive a fare and festival circular from the headquarters. The Corporation is planning to run as many as 1,927 additional buses in Godavari districts alone by transporting the devotees to mainly Rajahmundry and Kovvur.
East Godavari RTC regional manager Ch. Ravi Kumar said, “We are expecting a fare and festival circular giving details about the hike in passenger fares to the extent of 25 per cent for the fete.” Meanwhile, Jet Airways and Spice Jet, which operate two daily flights each from Hyderabad to Rajahmundry and back, are adding one more flight each, taking the total number of flights a day to six.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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