RTC gears up for Brahmotsavams in Tirupati

Tirupati: As a preparatory exercise aimed at smooth operation of bus services for the annual Brahmotsavams in Tirumala, APSRTC Nellore Zone Executive Director K Gopinath Reddy made an extensive inspection on Saturday covering various bus stations and also depots in the city.

Reddy first visited Alipiri depot where he held a 'gate meeting' to elicit the views of the workers in the depot on improving efficiency in the bus operation for Tirumala Brshamotsavams, a major religious festival which attracts thousands of devotees from all over the country.

He said the workers including those in the depots and also the crew including drivers are the key for the successful operation of bus service to ferry pilgrims on massive scale during the Utsavam and urged the staff to ensure zero accident.

APSRTC has planned for operating daily 3,000 round (up and down) trips to transport 1.5 lakh devotees and 3,300 round (up and down) trips on Garuda Seva day for ferrying two lakh pilgrims during Brahmotsavams while the TTD on its part decided to keep open the ghat road round-the-clock to ensure 24-hour vehicle operation to cope with the rush expected for the religious festival to be held from September 30 to October 8.

Reddy, later, visited Balaji bus station near Alipiri where he inspected the facilities for the pilgrims and also had random check-up of buses there. The RTC senior official also inspected Mangalam depot and also the store attached to it.

He sought the workers to give their suggestions free and frankly for the smooth operation of buses and improve services to pilgrims. He instructed the store official to ensure sufficient stock of spare parts and also for getting require spare parts without any delay from the zonal store at Nellore. Regional Manager T Chengal Reddy, deputy chief mechanical engineer N Srinivas and other officials were present.