Tamil Nadu devotees left in the lurch at Tirupati
Pilgrims have nowhere to go with the cancellation of around 240 buses
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-09-29 02:22 GMT
Tirupati: Tamil Nadu-based devotees continue to remain stranded in the temple town of Tirupati for the second day in a row, as they are unable to return to their home state owing to the violent protests there.
Thousands of TN devotees, who had completed their pilgrimage, were forced to stay put in Tirupati on Saturday and Sunday as well. Violent protests had broken out across Tamil Nadu immediately after the conviction of TN Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case on Saturday.
K. Sukumaran, a devotee who had come to Tirupati along with his relatives, friends and neighbours in a tourist bus from Madurai, completed his darshan on Saturday afternoon. However, when he started arranging for his group’s return to Madurai, he was advised to stay back in Tirupati as there were protests even along the Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh border. Though the group had planned the trip well in terms of expenses, the unforeseen development has left them worried.
Thousands of other devotees from TN are in a similar situation. Many cannot afford to stay for an additional day. With the cancellation of 240-odd state run buses of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, plying to various destinations including Chennai, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai and Puduchery, pilgrims had nowhere to go.
APSRTC alone operates 130 buses to Tamil Nadu, and the TN State Road Transport Corporation operates 110 buses to Tirupati. According to reports, besides the state-run buses, close to 300 private buses from TN have been stranded at the private bus station near Alipiri.
Meanwhile, the private parking contractors in Tirupati are fleecing the private tourist buses by charging double the actual parking fees. It is learnt that while each bus has to pay Rs 50 as parking fees for a day, they are forced to shell out Rs 90-Rs 100 now.