Sankranti rush chokes roads leading out of Hyderabad

ORR witnesses long convoys of cars coming in from different parts of city and heading out to various destinations

Hyderabad: All the roads leading out of the city on Thursday were chock-a-block with people heading towards their native towns and cities for the Sankranti festivities.

Right from the city suburbs that connect the State and National highways to the Outer Ring Road, the vehicular movement started to pick up in the early hours. The 158-km expressway of the ORR witnessed long convoys of cars coming in from different parts of the city and heading out to various destinations.

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At almost all the toll gates, the rush was on witness as cars and vans waited to clear through. However, the FASTags helped in quicker clearance of vehicles. The reliance on personal vehicles this festival season appeared more given their high volumes on the highways.

The demand for the public transportation too peaked with booking of seats soaring. The passenger pick-up spots of private bus fleets, starting from evening till late in the night, had families waiting for their bus. Apart from towns and cities of Telangana, the demand was high for destinations in the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile, the TSRTC had set up special camps for passengers waiting to board buses in usually congested areas where passenger traffic is high such as Uppal cross-road, LB Nagar, Aramghar and KPHB. Tents, chairs, drinking water and mobile bio-toilets were being arranged for the comfort of passengers in these areas.

TSRTC Managing Director, VC Sajjanar said 4,233 special buses were arranged for people going to their hometowns on Sankranti. “We are running special buses with regular fares without any hike and 10 per cent discount on the return journey is being given to passengers who made their reservations in advance,” he said.

Also, special lanes have been arranged for TSRTC buses at toll plazas so that people can reach their destinations at the earliest.