Vehicles heading to Pushkaralu stopped for hours on highways
Vehicles were stranded for hours at Hanuman Junction in Krishna district on Sunday. The situation continued to be same till evening. (Photo: DC)
Hyderabad: The rush of lakhs of pilgrims to Godavari Pushkaralu for the holy dip in the river in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh continued on Sunday causing enormous traffic jams on all roads leading to the Pushkar ghats. Over 53 lakh pilgrims took the holy dip on the banks of Godavari at various ghats.
Fomer Vijayawada Congress MP, Lagadapati Rajagopal, who fought for an united Andhra Pradesh, took a holy dip at Manthani ghat in Karimnagar. He praised Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, once his arch rival, for making fool-proof arrangements.
In Nizamabad, a snake created panic among pilgrims at Pochampad Pushkar ghat. Noticing the cobra entering the water, the devotees ran to safety, leading to mild commotion.
In Karimagar, six people died and two were injured in three road accidents, among them three Hyderabad-based pilgrims died in a vehicle collision in Ambaripet in Velgatur mandal.
In the other incident, two youths died when their bike rammed into a stationary van at Shanigaram of Koheda mandal on their way to Dharmapuri. Another man was electrocuted following the collapse of a hoarding due to showers and gales in Dharmapuri.
Officials imposed traffic restrictions on Rajiv Rahadari and the highway leading to Dharmapuri. The special state road transport corporation buses and special trains pressed into service to ferry pilgrims too were jam-packed.
Facing all odds, lakhs of pilgrims, meanwhile, managed to take the holy dip in both the states. In Andhra Pradesh, traffic on all major roads in Krishna and Guntur districts leading to Rajahmundry came to a halt for hours.
Vehicular traffic jam especially between Rajahmundry and Visakhaptnam affected supply of fuel including petrol and diesel and domestic gas causing short supply in Godavari districts.
In Rajahmundry, pilgrims were forced to wait for five to six hours at railway stations for their return journey. Godavari railway station superintendent G. Vasu said the delay was due to heavy rush.
K. Nageswara Rao, a pilgrim from Vijayawada, said that he was waiting for four hours at Luther Giri bus station to catch a bus to return home.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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