Tirumala's second ghat road closed over safety

Incessant rains in Tirumala has forced the authorities to close the second ghat road for a another week, as it stands exposed to the falling boulders from top.

Traffic along Ghat Road 2, which allows vehicles to move up the hill, has been diverted through a different route since the last three bends are vulnerable to falling boulders. However, Ghat Road 1 that brings the traffic up to the hills remains untroubled.

A team of experts from IIT-Delhi working on the solution to stop boulders from falling on the ghat road has asked the TTD for a week’s time to put a permanent solution in place.

The IIT experts along with TTD JEO K S Srinivasa Raju and a team of TTD engineers on Thursday inspected the spots on the second ghat road where boulders and trees fell a few days ago at the height of the cyclone.

Speaking to media after the inspection, IIT-Delhi experts Prof K S Rao and Prof Narasimha Rao said the phenomena of falling boulders was common in hilly areas and there was no need to panic.

The experts said they have identified four major and 20 minor vulnerable spots where the risk of falling boulders is high.  “With rock bolting, rock anchoring and breast wall construction techniques, we can arrest the falling rocks,” they said.

Current booking in TTD
Meanwhile, TTD Trust Board chief C Krishnamurthy inaugurated the Rs 300 current booking counters at Srinivasam Complex in Tirupati on Friday. A pilgrim from Udupi in Karnataka received the first ticket from the chairman.

The three counters the TTD has opened for the current booking would function between 9 am and 5 pm every day. Pilgrims can get tickets producing their identity (Aadhaar cards, driving licenses, voter or ration cards) and give impression of their left hand fore fingers.

Tickets will be issued on a first-come-first-serve basis until the quota exhausts. From Monday to Thursday, a quota of 50,000 tickets will be issued, while the quota during the weekend from Friday to Monday will be 5,000 tickets.