KAKINADA: The annual ‘Sankranthi’ festival coupled with the release of the latest films of two top heroes seem to have an adverse impact on the turnout of the four-day NTR Beach Festival.
A series of restrictions imposed by the police — from parking to the seating in the open auditorium — remained a major cause for concern among those who turned up for the festival. In this fifth edition of the annual beach event, the crowds were comparatively less on the first two days.
Unlike the first four years when the beach festival was completely in the hold of the local elected representatives, the officials took the reins now, prompting the local politicians and their associates to stay away from the events. The free transportation from the villages that was used to be arranged by the leaders was stopped this year.
The designated parking lots were about a kilometre away from the entrance, and free commute to the venue was not so frequent, forcing the visitors to walk the stretch. Most of the working class left for its native places, whiles the others were lining up at the theatres screening Chiranjeevi-starrer Khaidi Number 150 and Balakrishna-starrer Gauthami Putra Satakarni , besides making visits to the venues of cockfights.
A good number of seats in the gallery were reserved for the VVIPs and the VIPs, prompting the common people to watch the entertainment shows on the big screens arranged faraway from the dais. “It is like watching the show on a big TV screen. Do we need to come all the way here to watch this?” asked Dasari Vinod, a resident of Uppada Kothapalli.
On seeing the scanty turnout at the inaugural, a visibly disappointed Home Minister N. Chinna Rajappa announced that steps would be taken to ensure that the beach festival would not coincide with the Sankranti from the next year onwards.
Though the turnout was not so significant, the police remained strict in following their duty charts and imposing restrictions on the crowds. “It is wrong time for conducting the beach festival,” said P. Santosh, an employee of a fertilizer firm who was leaving for his village.
The stall owners pinned their hopes on the last two days and were hoping for huge turnouts and brisk business. “If the crowds remained the same, we can’t even get back the stall rent and transportation expenses,” lamented Ch. Lakshmi, owner of an eatery in the food court.
