Authorities of the Road Transport Corporation (RTC) here are making elaborate arrangements for smooth conduct of the forthcoming jatara in Medaram village of Mulugu district.
The biennial Medaram jatara witnesses one of the biggest congregations in the country with approximately one crore people turning up. They join the locals in praying and making offerings to tribal deities Sammakka and Sarakka, who fought against the mighty Kakatiya kings eight centuries ago and sacrificed their lives.
The RTC alone transports 18 lakh people during the jatara and this year, it targets to serve 22 lakh people. “We will procure buses from all over the State and operate nearly 4,000 buses this time. The RTC collected revenues of ₹30 crore with jatara operations and this year we expect to improve that number by ₹5 crore,” said RTC Warangal regional manager A. Sridhar.
The district administration has allocated 20 acres to RTC at Medaram village for setting up a temporary bus stand. Another 20 acres was allocated at Tadvai to park buses. The RTC plans to draft about 10,000 employees for jatara duties.
This time, the jatara would be held from February 5 to 8 and a lot of VIPs are expected to arrive here to take part in it.
Ministers Errabelli Dayakar Rao and Satyavathi Rathod held review meetings several times at district headquarters and ensured release of about ₹100 crore for arrangements that include re-laying of roads, construction of temporary toilets, sanitation facilities and electricity supply.
