PNS|Vijayawada
On the occasion of Mahashivaratri festival, APSRTC will be operating 3,800 buses from various places to 101 Shaiva temples. The RTC is expecting about 25 lakh passengers to travel on Shivaratri day. According to APSRTC MD Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao, RTC will operate special services on Shivaratri for the convenience of the devotees on normal charges.
The RTC will operate 675 buses to Kotappakonda in Guntur district to carry about 4.60 lakh devotees, 650 buses to Srisailam in Kurnool district to ply 2.50 lakh devotees, 200 buses to Polatala in Kadapa district, 30 buses to Nitya Puja Kona, 75 buses to Balive in West Godavari, 100 buses to Pattiseema and more.
The RTC MD said that despite the fuel price hike during the last two years, the RTC had been operating special services on normal fares. All arrangements had been made to ply 60 Saptagiri Express buses between Tirupati and Tirumala with well-trained drivers. Keeping in mind the ghat road, specially trained drivers would be assigned to ply the buses to Kotappakonda, Srisailam, Poltala etc.
The RTC is providing drinking water, announcement, tents and other basic facilities at all the bus stops for the passengers. The devotees who want to go to the holy places in groups can contact the respective depot managers. The authorities will arrange buses accordingly, he added.
