40km long traffic jam greets Medaram pilgrims

Medaram: Lack of coordination between the urban and rural police led to a major traffic jam on the Hanamkonda-Medaram highway, with thousands of vehicles stranded in a stretch as long as 40 km as they made their way to the biennial tribal fair underway at Medaram. Lakhs of pilgrims were stranded on the highway from Tuesday night till Wednesday noon, after which the congestion eased as the police diverted vehicles.
It is learnt that deployment of large number of police personnel, who are not familiar with the Warangal-Medaram route, resulted in the traffic jam. Lack of coordination between the rural and the urban police only added to the problem. Moreover, no cops were posted in several places vulnerable to jams. For instance, traffic was not managed from Atmakur to Pasara. The forest officials too closed the highway passing through the forest during the night.
The biennial fair dedicated to goddess Sammakka and Saralamma attracts lakhs of devotees from Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. This year about one crore pilgrims are expected at the Medaram jatara.
Bus services from Hanamkonda to Medaram were stopped for a few hours to ease the vehicular traffic. Vehicles were also diverted via Parkal and Bhupalapally. Rural SP LKV Ranga Rao supervised the diversion.
Meanwhile, the hereditary Koya priests Kaka Kanakamala, Buchamma, Lakshmibai and Koram Mutyambabau brought Saralamma after performing rituals in the forests. Tribal priests Kasa Venkateshwarlu and Ramdas led the special prayers. Saralamma was brought to the platform at Medaram on Wednesday night marking the beginning of the four-day tribal festival.
District collector G Kishan, additional joint collector JC Pausumi Basu, joint collector Sanjeevaiah and DMHO Dr P Sambasiva Rao witnessed the special rituals at Kannepally.