Close to two lakh marriages are expected to be held in the next couple of days across the State.
Majority of function halls have already been booked and taking advantage of the situation, catering service organisations and decoration companies are fleecing families.
Right time
In the capital alone, over 50,000 weddings will be held from Wednesday to Friday. Marriages are held in this season as there are no auspicious muhurthams till May this year, said D. Subrahmanyam, former secretary of Bhagyanagar Brahmana Society.
Generally, function halls in and around Secunderabad charge around Rs. 3 lakh for a wedding.
However, given the demand for function halls, managements have hiked charges by nearly Rs. 1 lakh, said Raghava Reddy, owner of Jayalakshmi Gardens in Secunderabad Cantonment.
All for people
To help people attending weddings, the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) is planning to operate over 1,200 special services from the city to various districts from Tuesday to Friday.
However, passengers will have to pay 50 per cent extra fare.
For instance, a passenger who books a ticket for a super luxury bus from Hyderabad to Vijayawada will have to cough up Rs. 428 as against the regular fare of Rs. 285, RTC authorities said.
300 services
Beginning Tuesday, the Corporation will operate as many as 300 special services a day to destinations including Vijayawada, Amalapuram, Eluru, Rajahmundry, Guntur, Kurnool, Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Khammam.
To avoid congestion at the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station, the Road Transport Coprporation authorities will operate the special services from the Central Bus Station, Mehdipatnam, KPHB, Patancheru, Medchal, ECIL, Uppal, Hayathnagar and Dilsukhnagar.
Heavy rush
“There are many marriages in the next couple of days, and we expect heavy passenger rush,” said A. Koteswara Rao, Executive Director, RTC, Greater Hyderabad zone.
Private operators
Meanwhile, private bus operators said that there were not many bookings.
In fact, many seats were still vacant, and the bookings were not encouraging either, claimed H.S.C. Bose, honorary president, A.P. Private Bus Operators Association.
