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- Beyond The Flames
44 lakh take holy dip on Day-6 of Pushkaralu
44 lakh take holy dip on Day-6 of Pushkaralu. There is a huge rush of pilgrims at all the Godavari pushkara ghats on the sixth day of Maha Pushkaralu here on Sunday.
Rajahmundry: There is a huge rush of pilgrims at all the Godavari pushkara ghats on the sixth day of Maha Pushkaralu here on Sunday. The weekend rush of pilgrims is not likely to abate even by Monday, according to officials. The number of pilgrims is expected to further rise towards end of the event on July 25. As per the estimates by 2 pm on Sunday, the number of pilgrims who attended Maha Puskharalu crossed 44.11 lakh piligrims.
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Though there are as many as seven distributaries in the area under different names, many of them have been swarming to Akhanda Godavari in Rajahmundry. About 30,000 police from Andhra Pradesh and 5,000 police from other states have been deployed to ensure the event goes on without any hitch. The authorities are regulating the traffic and the crowds at the ghats.
However, there are lengthy traffic jams for several kilometres on all roads leading to Rajahmundry. Pilgrims are suffering hardship. The Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu himself is in the town, monitoring the situation. He interacted with the passengers and enquired about their problems and directed the RTC authorities to clear the passenger rush.
The authorities have introduced queue management for smooth movement of pilgrims to various ghats while they proceed to take a dip and vice-versa on their return. Elaborate arrangements have been made for accommodation, drinking water, food packets and sanitation too. "In view of the stampede, we have been monitoring the situation at various ghats including pilgrim rush, bathing and other facilities through CCTVs, which are kept at ghats and linked with the Control Room," officials said.
According to APSRTC MD N Sambasiva Rao, the APSRTC is operating special services to clear the Pushkaralu rush. About 700 buses are being operated to Visakhapatnam alone. Meanwhile, a huge rush was witnessed at the main railway station and Godavari station in Rajahmundry. Though, the railway department has made elaborate arrangements, many trains have been running late. The railway authorities have been clearing the traffic on priority basis and kept four trains on standby.
