With Deepavali fast approaching, people are rushing to book tickets on state transport buses as they head to their hometowns or villages to spend the festival with their families.
Many have taken advantage of the facility offered by the state transport corporation (STC) to book tickets 60 days in advance as against 30 days in the past.
While 10,000 tickets a day have been booked at various reservation counters over the last few days as against 8,000 bookings a day previously, around 3,400 tickets are being booked per day now through e-ticketing too as compared to 2,200 tickets before the extension of the advance booking period, says a transport official.
Monday saw people thronging reservation counters all across the city as they tried to make sure they got their bus ride home well before November 13.
Most are readying for a long weekend, leaving for home on Saturday, November 9, and taking a day off on Monday, the only working day, to be able to spend more time with their families during the festival.
“As many as 90 bookings were made during the first shift, till noon at the T. Nagar counter on Monday. Of these, 62 tickets were booked for November 9. Only a 100 tickets were booked during two whole shifts before the booking period was advanced,” said a transport officer, adding that the corporation expects to see the heaviest rush on November 8 and 9.