[1]Chennai: The high-voltage Telangana protests did not spare even the famed Tirumala temple. The protests literally halved footfalls at Tirumala, said TTD treasurer and SRMU general secretary N. Kanniah.
Talking to reporters here, Kanniah said that the footfall fell from 1 lakh to 65,000 on weekends and from around 65,000 to 35,000 on weekdays. However, TTD held talks with the protesters as they wish to operate more buses from Tirupati to Tirumala in view of the upcoming Brahmotsavam festival season when he is confident that they would receive up to 3 lakh pilgrims. Southern Railways has agreed, in principle, to operate a special MEMU from Chennai to Tirupati for the festival season, as sought by TTD, Kanniah said.
TTD has also requested the Railways to attach additional coaches to Tirupati-bound trains to accommodate the extra rush of passengers during the festival season. Meanwhile, TTD has expanded its biometric system to all accommodation reservations to avoid irregularities in allocation of cottages atop the hill.
The new system would allow a person to book only one room as the biometric register would not accept a person who had booked once, for the subsequent 15 days, he added.
Interestingly, the free ladoo that pilgrims receive while exiting the Tirumala temple, will be more tasty and nutritious henceforth. Despite stiff opposition, Kanniah convinced the trust to spend an additional Rs 12 crore per year on more raisins and nuts to be included in the ladoo from October 1, 2013.
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