Tirupati: The repeated appeals of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) trust board chairman Chadalawada Krishna Murthy to TTD EO D Sambasiva Rao over the treatment of the temple city of Tirupati on par with the hill shrine of Tirumala reflects the apathy being shown by the temple administration towards Tirupati's development. Mr Krishna Murthy’s open appeal to Mr Rao at the press conference on Friday at the Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS) points to the brewing dissatisfaction at the TTD administration’s attitude and also that of senior politicians, who, significantly enough, belongs to the ruling TDP.
It is well known that TTD has shown scant regard for the development of the temple city, which is the entry point for thousands of vehicles and lakhs of people bound for Tirumala. The Municipal Corporation of Tirupati (MCT), with its meagre resources, is striving hard to provide basic amenities to the local residents and the nearly 1 lakh visitors it receives per day. TTD’s administration office is located in Tirupati and almost all its staff and their families live in the city.
The TTD runs three huge complexes, the Srinivasam, Madhavam and Vishnu Nilayams — which accommodate around 3,000 pilgrims every day — free choultries in the city, excluding guest houses in Tirumala and marriage halls. Many colonies are exclusively allocated for TTD employees’ families. It earns a huge revenue from the facilities it provides pilgrims, including a toll tax collected at the Alipiri toll gate. Yet, citizens and others resent the fact that it is not taking the initiative to develop the city.
Chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s intervention led to its lake development plan around the city, which too remains in the initial stages. The temple town, which is keen to earn a ‘Smart City’ tag, lags far behind in basic infrastructure facilities in many areas, such as those located close to the railway station and Central bus station. The MCT is trying to develop these parts of the town by providing an underground drainages but due to narrow lanes and century-old buildings, this has become a risky task.
An old building in Isuka Veedhi recently collapsed due to the digging of a deep pit. Hundreds of these old structures exist in the city and the MCT is concerned about their survival. With no proper underground drainage system in the city, residents face considerable hardships during the rainy season, when the roads and low lying areas get inundated.
