Bumpy ride ahead for Medaram-bound devotees

Warangal: Come what may, old habits die hard. Everyone in this part of the world knows that work on Medaram arrangements begins late and continue till the 11th hour. And it's no different this year either. With just a week to go for the commencement of the biennial Sammakka Saralamma jatara, the administration is in a tearing hurry to complete the arrangements before lakhs of devotees start to descend on Medaram.

It's been months since the schedule for the biennial Sammakka Saralamma jatara at Medaram was announced. The State Government took its own time and earmarked Rs 75 crore for the arrangements in the last week of October. Since then the authorities had set many deadlines to round off the arrangements, but it's been a race against time for the officials. January 31 is the latest deadline for winding up the works.

On the other hand, the pre-jatara rush picked up exponentially in the last fortnight, compared to previous years'. It was estimated that a whopping 10 lakh devotees turned to Medaram in the last couple of Sundays.

Although there are several areas where authorities need to rev up and ensure facilities such as drinking water supply, it's predicted that traffic management would certainly be a prime issue during this year's jatara as roads leading to Medaram or under repair or expansion.

Traffic management is no easy task especially when a religious congregation like Medaram jatara that invariably draws millions of devotees. If the pre-jatara rush is any indication, the authorities have their task cut out in managing vehicular traffic especially during the main jatara (February 5 to 8) where the number of devotees to exceed one crore. The nightmarish traffic jam experience on the Warangal-Medaram highway in a 40-kilometer stretch for over 12 hours is still afresh in the minds of devotees.

It may be noted here that the National Highway-163, (Hyderabad-Bhupalaptnam in Chhattisgarh) is key for lakhs of devotees heading to Medaram. The ongoing expansion and the repair works at several places could well be a thorn in the flesh of cops when they get down working to clear vehicular congestion.

The ongoing road and culvert works near Jangalapally, Mallampally and Pasra could pose problems to traffic management. The road work between Mahabubabad and Mallampally (NH-363) is also going at a snail's pace.

Minister for Tribal Welfare and Women Development Satyavathi Rathod said: "The administration is in touch with the National Highway (NH) authorities, and pursuing them to speed up the road works."

No to Laknavaram Lake sightseeing: Fearing traffic congestion near Chalvai, the district administration as on Wednesday cancelled entry to Laknavaram lake until February 10. It's going to be a huge disappointment for the Medaram-bound devotees who usually have a break at the exhilarating lake that now has two suspension bridges, in addition to the boating and lake view cottages.

"Unless something miracle happens, it's difficult for the authorities to ensure all the arrangements in place for the devotees. With no drinking water provision near Goddesses' altars, we have to purchase packaged water," Ch Srinivas, a photographer from Hanamkonda who visited Medaram on Wednesday, told The Hans India. For obvious reasons, the arrangements begin late at Medaram and continue the 11th hour so that there would not be that much of focus and scrutiny on the quality of works, he said.