Dasara travel plans washed out by rain, Covid

HYDERABAD: As the festive season of Dasara and Diwali closes in, travelling back to one’s hometown has become an arduous task for many due to the pandemic and the unprecedented rain in Telangana. Every year, an additional 50,000 to 1 lakh/per day travel to and from Telangana during Dasara. While the most common mode of travel during the festivals are special SCR trains, inter-state RTC buses are a close second. However, this year, no inter-state RTC buses are plying to either Andhra Pradesh or Bengaluru. 

The TSRTC is planning to run additional buses from Hyderabad to the neighbouring states. Over 281 additional buses were run in the last three days for passengers to get back home during the unprecedented rains. Additional buses will run to various districts of Telangana till October 24. Meanwhile, the situation is being milked by the private bus operators where ticket prices start at Rs 1,200 and go up to around Rs 2,500, for a one-way trip. 

The SCR usually provides over 100 special trains through October and November. This year, only 22 pairs of trains to and from Telangana have been provided, for 652 trips. Advance bookings have started for SCR special trains, AC classes have over 20% advance bookings, long distance trains to Rajasthan, UP and Bihar have almost 70-80 % bookings, and Yatra special trains to AP and Karnataka have 80% advance bookings till Dasara. Ola and Uber are charging Rs 5,000 upwards to places like Vijayawada or inter-district travels; Rs 12,000 upwards to Vizag or somewhere inside Andhra Pradesh, and Rs 15,000 upwards to Bengaluru and Maharashtra. 

While flight tickets are easily available, rains have led to sudden cancellation of flights. Speaking to Express, a manager of Karthikeya Travels said, “The number of flight reservations has come down due to Covid-19 worries, but we are mostly losing out on elderly customers or those with young children. We are still taking almost 20-30 flight reservations each day.” 

Meanwhile, people who are planning to travel by road are faced with terrible road conditions. Guru Swamy, a bank employee said, “I travel to Khammam for work every week, and come back to be with family. A journey that takes not more than five hours took me double the time this weekend. I don’t think I will be going home for the festival this year.”