VP, AP CM Launch New Pilgrim Complex and ICCC in Tirumala

Tirupati: Pilgrim facilities in Tirumala received a significant upgrade on Wednesday with the inauguration of a new accommodation complex and an advanced Integrated Command and Control Centre.

Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan along with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, launched the projects developed by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams. The new accommodation block, named ‘Venkatadri Nilayam’ or Pilgrims Amenities Complex-5, was constructed at a cost of Rs 102 crore.

Designed to provide shelter to devotees arriving there without prior bookings, the facility offers free accommodation for up to 4,500 pilgrims at a time. The facility includes 16 dormitories, 2,400 lockers, a first-aid centre, milk-feeding rooms for mothers and a 24-hour hot water supply.

The TTD has also set up a Kalyanakatta within the complex, enabling 80 devotees to offer simultaneous tonsuring. Two spacious dining halls, each serving 1,400 pilgrims at a time, have been made available.

After inaugurating the complex, the Chief Minister and Vice-President inspected the building and reviewed the arrangements. Naidu handed over the first accommodation booking token to a devotee.

Both leaders examined the waste collection machinery installed on the premises. They also inaugurated prasadams ingredients – vision-based sorting machines introduced at the Tirumala Potu.

The CM inaugurated the newly built Integrated Command and Control Centre at the Vaikuntam queue complex. Officials informed him that currently 4,500 devotees per hour were having darshan of Lord Venkateswara, with the ICCC using Artificial Intelligence, quantum-ready analytics and machine learning to track crowd flow and adjust queue management accordingly.

Naidu directed officials to raise the hourly capacity to 5,500 pilgrims and proposed that spiritual videos and the history of Lord Venkateswara be screened in queue complexes and compartments to strengthen devotional spirit among the devotees. He said prohibited items must not reach the hill, with surveillance beginning at Alipiri through the ICCC.

With CCTV cameras linked to the system, congestion heat maps would be identified in real time from Alipiri, enabling immediate crowd management.

The CM said all TTD temples must be brought under the ICCC network. Tirumala, he said, must be maintained as clean and visually appealing. “Any sign of unclean surroundings would trigger instant alerts for action. The greenery must be given utmost priority. We must maintain more than 90 per cent vegetation cover across the seven hills.”

Ministers Nara Lokesh and Anam Ramnarayana Reddy, MLAs, TTD board chairman BR Naidu, executive officer Anil Kumar Singhal, collector Venkateswar, SPs Murali Krishna and Subba Rayudu and other officials were present.