18 lakh Andhra Pradesh bound this Sankranti festival

Hyderabad: The first Sankranti festival after the bifurcation of the state has gained significance in more ways than one. This is going to be an occasion for stocktaking by people, who belong to Seemandhra, but reside in the city. While many are visiting kith and kin in different places, some are taking stock of ancestral properties and also considering new properties in big cities like Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Guntur. With a real estate boom in full swing in most cities of AP, people have decided to visit those without fail this time.

According to an estimate, more than 32 lakh people from Seemandhra have been residing in Hyderabad, and out of them at least 18 lakh people have boarded trains, buses, taxis or flights to visit their native places.

The exit of such a huge number of people for at least five to six days has hit some businesses in a big way. According to another estimate, commercial activity worth Rs 300 crore will be hit on account of this. Sellers of daily commodities like milk, vegetables and fruits, sweets etc. will find few takers in the next few days.

This apart, many tiffin centres, food courts and tea shops run by Seemandhra people are closed. Even middle-level businesses are taking a hit. Shopping malls, which saw a flurry of activity are also affected partially.

“Sales in our branches at Vizag, Vijayawada, Guntur and Rajahmundry were up this time. It appears that people want to buy there. Of course, we anticipated this shift,” said a senior manager of a mall.

Even supermarkets have also taken a beating. “We have cut down on our daily stock of various items till January 18,” said a manager of More supermarket.

Trains full, RTC special buses to charge 50 per cent more:

Though the Railways had announced special trains, most of them are already full and no tickets are available. Even general compartments have no space to enter. However, it has been alleged that private booking agents are charging exorbitantly for tickets on these trains. Meanwhile, RTC has announced 50 per cent extra charges for 5,560 special buses. The regular 3,557 buses will charge the normal ticket rates. The RTC management has its own explanation. “All the 5,560 special buses are announced only for Sankranti. They will have to return empty from the destinations and the loss will have to be borne by the RTC. The 50 per cent extra charges are only on special buses," said RTC officials.