Marriage season, Ramzan festival followed by a long weekend . One would generally expect a heavy rush at the railway and bus ticket booking counters in the capital.
This season, its not the case due to the ongoing ‘Samaikyandhra’ agitations in the Seemandhra region. The Bhagyanagar Brahmana Society estimates that there could be over 500 marriages on the weekend in the city and many more across the State.
But the current agitation, families conducting marriages are worried about the travel means of their relatives and friends arriving to the capital and those heading towards Seemandhra. “We have to attend a marriage at Amalapuram on Thursday and even purchased tickets from a private bus operator but there is lot of uncertainty about reaching our destination,” says D. Subrahmanyam, secretary of Bhagyanagar Brahmana Society.
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Cab owners and few private bus operators are trying to cash in on the demand and charging exorbitant fares. While a ticket from Hyderabad to Kakinada costs about Rs.450, but some operators are already demanding Rs.800 per head.
The APSRTC which usually introduces special buses to cater to any heavy demand has refrained from taking any such initiative.
“People are not willing to travel for the last few days. A majority of the regular services have been cancelled and advance bookings for the services being operated are not also encouraging even when it’s a festive season and marriages are happening”, says a senior RTC official.
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“We are keeping our fingers crossed hoping the situation improves by Thursday,” he adds. The South Central Railway (SCR) authorities too are worried about poor ticket bookings.
Over 25 special trains have been announced connecting different parts of the State, especially towards the coastal Andhra region with the capital, but many berths are vacant.Berths are also available in the Lingampally-Kakinada, Kakinada-Lingampally, Aurangabad-Tirupati special trains covering most of the coastal Andhra region.
Similar is the case with Kacheguda-Mangalore special train, which passes via Renigunta. Nearly 40 per cent of berths are still vacant in different special trains, says South Central Railway spokesperson.