Vijayawada: Vijayawada city, located on the banks of river Krishna, is decked up for Krishna Pushkaralu. The state government has made elaborate arrangements for the pilgrims visiting the city for the river fete. Around 4 crore pilgrims are expected to take holy dip in river Krishna during the 12-day fete, as the city is well connected by road, rail and air. The district administration has established Pushkar Nagars with reception counters at all important ghats in and around the city for the convenience of the pilgrims. The Pushkar Nagars have been provided with basic amenities like toilets, drinking water, cloak rooms, medical camps, bus stops and food stalls.
The pilgrims can arrive in the city, stay overnight at the Pushkar Nagars, take a holy dip the next day and leave to their places. Three meals, along with tea and snacks, would be served free of cost throughout the 12-day river festival. The Pushkar nagars are well connected by road. Buses shall ply free of cost from the Pushkar Nagars to Pushkar ghats frequently. As many as 38 Pushkar Nagars have been arranged in and around the city.
Pilgrims can take holy dip in 29 ghats set up around the city by travelling in free buses from Pushkar Nagars. The state government is promoting the event not only as a holy fete but also as a cultural and tourism event. As part of it, water sports and boating facilities, apart from food courts have been provided at all the ghats in Vijayawada. Andhra specials will be served to the pilgrims at the food courts. All officials have been told to work dedicatedly round-the-clock to ensure smooth conduct of the 12-day river festival in and around the city.
Parking places, traffic restrictions for festival:
Vijayawada police detailed about the traffic restrictions that would be imposed in the city during the Krishna Pushakralu, scheduled from August 12 to 23. There will be a long stretch of no vehicle zone from Prakasam barrage to Panja Centre. Only pedestrians, vehicles relating to emergency services and essential commodities would be allowed to ply through the route. No other private vehicles would be allowed into the city and all people should depend on public transportation provided by the APSRTC within the city.
No vehicle zone borders are Swathi Theatre Centre towards the Vijayawada-Hyderabad highway, Pandit Nehru Bus Station junction, statue of Tanguturi Prakasam Pantulu near the low bridge, Raghavaiah Park on MG Road and R. R. Apparao Street (Andhra Bank street) on BRP Road and Hindu High School Centre in Kothapeta. The buses which come from I Town would be allowed up to Kummaripalem (Swathi Theatre). Those coming from II Town would be diverted at Pandit Nehru Bus Station. Also, the Prakasam barrage would be closed for all the 12 days. Even pedestrians will not be allowed on to the barrage.
The city has been divided into 19 zones and 74 sectors to monitor traffic. About 120 parking places have been demarcated in about 276 acres and about 40,000 vehicles can be accommodated at a time in these parking places. All the entry points to the city have sign boards showing the nearest Pushkar Nagar and parking places. Arrangements have been made to transport 4.5 lakh pilgrims a day to Pushkar ghats through APSRTC buses. About 3,000 buses and 25,000 staff will facilitate the task in Vijayawada, Guntur and Kurnool districts.
Six satellite bus stations have been established in Vijayawada city and free bus service facility would be provided for every three minutes from the satellite stations to different places in the city. Devotees coming from other places should reach the satellite stations to take bath at the nearest ghat. The APSRTC is running around 2,700 long distance buses and 396 buses from the parking places to the Pushkar ghats. The South Central Railway is also running 202 special trains for the convenience of pilgrims attending Krishna Pushkarams.The special trains run from Hyderabad, Vizag, Kakinada, Bengaluru, Chennai and Tirupati will stop at Mangalagiri, Peddakurapadu, Pondugala and Vishnupuram railway stations, besides Guntur, to help the devotees reach Pushkar ghats of their choice. Helpline numbers, tollfree numbers have also been opened for the convenience of pilgrims, dedicated 24X7 helplines have been opened for the convenience of pilgrims. Cultural programmes will be organised by the department of language and culture during Pushkaralu and the programmes will focus on AP culture. The state government gave a facelift to Tummalapallivari Kalakshetram in Vijayawada to organise the cultural programmes during the 12 days. Cultural programmes, including classical music, dance forms, social and mythological plays, will be enacted in the evenings. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has declared that Krishna Pushkaralu will be launched officially by Kanchi seers Jayendra Saraswati and Vijayendra Saraswati on August 12.
