The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam officials are planning to procure a Naval Anti-Drone System (NADS) for deployment in Tirumala in order to instantly detect and jam micro drones.
The contemplation comes following the emergence of apparently a drone camera taken aerial footage of Tirumala temple on social media last week.
No flying objects are allowed over the Lord Venkateshwara temple, according to the Agama sastra.
TTD executive officer Dharma Reddy told reporters in Tirumala on Monday that negotiations are on with the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for the procurement of NADS.
The short video put on Instagram by a Hyderabad based firm has the aerial views of the temple gopurams and Ananda Nilayam.
Facing criticism of security lapse, the TTD has initiated a probe on the drone use incident and sent the footage for forensic analysis.
TTD Chief Vigilance and Security Officer Narasimha Kishore on Friday said that their preliminary inquiry found the claims of video taken through a drone camera as baseless.
“Entire Tirumala is under the eagle eye of hi-tech vigilance, security and it is not possible to capture the video through a drone camera,” the CVSO said while stating that legal action will be taken against the offenders, if it is in-fact proved that the aerial views of the temple were captured using a drone camera.
Dharma said that they will be soon introducing RFID tagging of the luggage of pilgrims, like in the airports, for a secured transportation mechanism.
Published 23 January 2023, 18:29 IST