Hyderabad: It was anything but a smooth passage for pilgrims travelling to Kaleshwaram on Sunday, as a 10-kilometre-long traffic jam choked the Bhupalpally stretch and turned the religious rush into a logistical nightmare.
Devotees headed for a holy dip during Saraswati Pushkaralu were stuck in near-standstill traffic for much of the day. Vehicles lined up bumper to bumper, with some waiting upwards of three hours to move even a few hundred metres. There was no shade, no water, and no sign of traffic regulation.
Many simply abandoned their vehicles and began walking — some barefoot, others with children in tow — determined to reach the ghats before sundown. Tempers ran high in several pockets, with people directing their ire at the police and district officials who, they said, should’ve known better.
“This isn’t the first Pushkaralu. They’ve seen these crowds before. And yet there’s no plan, no control. Just chaos,” said S. Ramesh, a teacher from Warangal who had set out with his family at dawn but was still miles from Kaleshwaram by noon.
Despite advance warnings of high turnout, there appeared to be little by way of crowd or vehicle management. Key intersections had no signage. Buses, autos, private cars — all jostled for space on a single-lane road that wasn’t built for this scale.
With the festival continuing through the week, and footfall expected to climb, locals are now urging the administration to step in before the congestion leads to something worse.
