Early funeral of Nandamuri Harikrishna procession throws traffic out of gear

Hyderabad: The funeral procession of late actor-politician, N. Harikrishna Prasad, who died in a road accident on Wednesday, was attended by scores of fans. People thronged the city from the wee hours of Thursday.

However, the proceedings of the final rites started 90 minutes before the scheduled time announced by the city police, throwing traffic out of gear and catching many commuters amidst snarls.

According to the official advisory issued by traffic police, the procession was meant to start at 4 pm and commuters had planned accordingly. But it began around 2.30 pm and reached Mahaprasthanam at Jubilee hills around 4 pm.

An ocean of fans of the Nandamuri family, from both the states thronged the city to be a part of his final journey. People were found standing right from his house at Masab tank and in pockets enroute where the vehicle would pass by in the 8 km stretch to the crematorium.

Many were waiting in their apartment balconies and foot over bridges to have a final glimpse of the actor. The procession was led by Harikrishna’s elder son Kalyan Ram and actor Junior NTR, while AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and actor-turned MLA N. Balakrishna were also present.

A commuter and private employee, Megashyam, said, “The traffic advisory was very helpful in choosing the route as I usually commute from Secunderabad to Gachibowli through Mehdipatnam. In the morning I took the same route but while coming back, I came through Kukatpally.”

However, commuters who planned to travel in the afternoon hours did not expect the traffic jam and were struck in the slow moving traffic. There was bumper to bumper movement throughout the stretch from 2 pm to 7 pm on Thursday. The funeral procession started way before the announced timings and travelled for about two and half hours.