APSRTC gears up for Garudotsavam

Tirupati: APSRTC, Tirupati region has geared up for operating additional bus services for Garuda Seva to be held on October 14 as part of the ongoing Brahmotsavams at Tirumala. Briefing the media on the arrangements for Garuda Seva, Regional Manager T Chengal Reddy said here on Friday that 514 buses plying on the ghat roads will operate 3,411 trips with a total capacity to ferry 3.41 lakh pilgrims on Garuda Seva day and same number of trips on the next day of Garudotsavam (October 15).

A big continent of senior personnel including 50 officials, drivers and conductors (200 each), 160 security staff and 50 senior drivers who will act as instructors at critical points on the ghat road will be involved in the operation of special bus services to cope with Garuda Seva rush.

Besides, 150 special buses from various places in Tamil Nadu including Chennai, Vellore, Kanchi, Tiruvannamalai, Hosur, Tirupati and another 50 buses between Tirupati and Bengaluru will be operated for Garuda Seva. ‘Relief Gangs’ were set up to function under the supervision of senior RTC officials to extend immediate required help to the buses moving on the hills, he said adding that only tested vehicles fit for ghat road operation and trained drivers were deployed to ensure zero accidents during the massive fleet operation to ferry devotes.

Reddy informed that the ghat road buses will soon be fitted with a software to gauge the speed on the hill roads to see that the drivers stick to the running time fixed to the buses which is 30 minutes for up vehicles and 40 minutes for down vehicles. This was to enhance safety of pilgrims travelling in the buses, he explained.

Answering a question, Reddy said, though the region’s income increased by 20 cores, the losses for the period from April to September this year mounted to Rs 43 crore due to the steep increase in diesel price. Reddy said that the region is operating special buses for Dasra festival including 60 buses to Bengaluru, 20 to Chennai, 15 to Hyderabad and 10 to Vijayawada. Arrangements were also in place for operating special buses to Sabarimala for the benefit of devotees visiting the shrine in Kerala and also other places in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, he added. Deputy chief traffic manager Bhaskar Reddy was also present.