State readies helicopters to ferry pilgrims to Pushkaralu sites

Hyderabad: The Telangana state government has made elaborate transport arrangements for pilgrims coming to the state for the Godavari Pushkaralu. The government expects over six crore pilgrims, from across the globe, to come for the holy dip in River Godavari.

It is all set to enter into MoUs with private chopper firms to arrange for helicopters to take pilgrims to places like Basar, Bhadrachalam etc. Funds have also been released to construct helipads at these locations.

“The existing road network will not be able to handle the huge inflow of traffic into TS over the 12 days of the Pushkaralu. Therefore, we have sought the assistance of the South Central Railway to run special trains. As many as 1,700 RTC buses from non-Pushkaralu areas too will be diverted to the five districts where the Pushakaralu will be held,” said A. Indrakaran Reddy, the endowments minister.

He said special ghats would be set up in Basar, Bhadrachalam, Dharmapuri and Kaleshwaram to enable VVIPs like the President, Prime Minister, Chief Ministers and other dignitaries to take a holy dip. He added that Tridandi Ramanuja Chinna Jeeyar Swamy will visit the Pushkar ghats in Bhadrachalam and Mancherial and offer annadanam to 50,000 pilgrims per day.