The elaborate and well-planned transport network put in place by the AP State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) and the Vijayawada division of South Central Railway (SCR) to facilitate a hassle-free commute for the Pushkaram pilgrims went kaput on Saturday.
Like on the first day of the river festival that witnessed loss of 29 lives in a stampede due to lack of planning in crowd management, official estimates on influx of pilgrims went awry yet again on Saturday leading to large crowds of pilgrims getting stranded in the railway station and the PNBS.
This round of the river festival which takes place once every 144 years and Saturday being a holiday on account of Eid-ul-Fitr, people made the best of the weekend and headed towards Godavari district. A swarm of pilgrims choked roads, bus station and the railway station.
The mounting pressure among the burned-out officials triggered a blame game. RTC Vijayawada Regional Manager P.V. Rama Rao said the problem started due to delay and cancellation of a few trains as hundreds of people waiting in railway station were diverted to the bus station.
“Because of the logjam, we diverted buses from the wee hours of Saturday and the process continued till afternoon. To cater to the needs of the heavy rush pouring into the bus stand, we diverted city services to ferry them to their destinations. This did cause inconvenience to the city commuters, but we had no other option,” said Mr. Rao.
The SCR Vijayawada DRM Ashok Kumar strongly refuted saying it was due to the heavy crowd. “Godavari railway station platform, equipped to handle 5,000 people, is receiving 15,000 people in a single batch. We are operating more than 100 trains against the regular need of 50,” he said.
