Hyderabad: With the Dasara celebrations entering the sixth day on Saturday, travellers, headed to their native places for the weekend and subsequent important festive days, buzzed about the city in large numbers.
Railway stations across the city and bus terminals wore a crowded look, while taxis were also hired in large numbers by those who couldn't secure seats on the special services.
Temporary drivers were in huge demand, with tours and travel agencies in the city also raking in profits during the festive season.
On Saturday, lines of vehicles thronged fuel stations, with petroleum dealers noting at least a 20 per cent hike in diesel and petrol sales, according to Marri Amarender Reddy, the president of Telangana Petroleum Dealers Association.
"There has been an increase of 20 per cent in diesel and petrol sales on Friday and Saturday. Basically, each day, within the GHMC region, 45 lakh litres of diesel and 35 lakhs litres of petrol is consumed, but this increased over the weekend," he said.
The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) also launched an additional 4,198 special service buses from Friday night due to the festive season.
TSRTC's regional manager for Ranga Reddy, Sridhar, said, "The festival crowds started from last Saturday onwards. An addition of buses have been made to the fleet for various destinations from the city. The RTC is having heavy traffic from Friday onwards, for which the corporation is making sure no passenger faces inconvenience."
While the South Central Railways already introduced special trains to ease the Dasara traffic, anticipating a spike in footfall, more such trains are likely to be added - especially between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh - due to the festive season. Long-distance trains are especially in demand at present.
Around 100 special trains will be taking the tracks, officials said.
