Giri Pradakshina jams Visakhapatnam roads till past midnight; four-hour gridlock at Venkojipalem
Stretches from Maddilapalem to Madhurawada stayed jammed for up to four hours as lakhs walked the 32-km route; at Venkojipalem, motorists switched off their engines and slept in their cars or watched reels on their phones
On Tuesday, July 28, 2026, the annual Giri Pradakshina of Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy in Visakhapatnam caused severe traffic congestion, with roads jammed until past midnight. Lakhs of devotees participated in the pilgrimage, leading to gridlock on several key routes. The worst affected areas included Venkojipalem, where motorists were stranded for up to four hours, switching off their engines and waiting in their vehicles.
The Maddilapalem-RTC Complex stretch, Visakha Valley Junction-Madhurawada road, Adavivaram-Sontyam road, Gopalapatnam road, NAD Junction-Gajuwaka corridor, and H.B. Colony road were particularly congested during the evening. Motorists on the RTC Complex-Maddilapalem stretch endured over an hour in long queues. The congestion also spilled into connecting interior roads, compelling commuters to take longer routes.
Video footage showed vehicles at a standstill on Venkojipalem Road, with some residents even sleeping in their cars due to the prolonged delays. By midnight, over 4.55 lakh people had traversed the Giri Pradakshina route, with crowd movement being slow in the 11 p.m. to midnight slot. Twelve medical cases were reported during this hour, mostly involving issues like weakness, dehydration, or breathlessness.
Thirty-three medical camps and 26 ambulances were deployed to manage the situation. The APSRTC ran 535 buses, clearing 4.15 lakh passengers by midnight. Despite extensive police deployment and traffic diversions, the flow remained unmanageable at several junctions, leading to widespread frustration among commuters. No law and order incidents or missing-person cases were reported.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
