Weekend makes Sankranti grand

VISAKHAPATNAM: With Sankranti falling on a weekend, the people of north coastal districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam were able to celebrate the festival with extra grandeur.
Kite-flying, rangoli making, and gobbemmalu (worship of Goddess Gobbemma) were the highlights at almost all households with families having a grand reunion.
A Suryanarayana, a farmer from Srikakulam, said, “My children and grand children from the US came home to celebrate the festival.Last year, they could not make it and we missed them during the festival. But this time, their presence has doubled the celebrations.”
Adding to the celebrations, some of the hotels offered special discounts to customers, while local kite flying competitions were organised at the Fishing Harbour.
APSRTC executive director for Vizianagaram region, A Ramakrishna said, “We will start operating special services for the people to return to their workplaces in Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad from Monday. We will be operating nearly 25 to 30 per cent more buses.”
A senior railway spokesperson from Waltair division of East Coast Railway said, “We have already introduced special train services. The rush of passengers would begin from Monday onwards.”