Alipiri footpath shops told to sell water and food at fixed prices as TTD tightens pilgrim services

Shopkeepers on the walking route that brings Alipiri footpath pilgrims into Tirumala may now charge no more than the prescribed rates for drinking water and food. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Additional Executive Officer Ch. Venkaiah Chowdary gave the order on Thursday, 12 November, while inspecting the pedestrian stretch between Madhava Nilayam (PAC-2) and the GNC toll gate. He also made it plain that no encroachment would be tolerated.

Officials were asked to put up details of darshan and free accommodation along the pathway, so that pilgrims who arrive on foot know where to head next. Further development works for the route were discussed, TTD said, though it did not list them. Superintending Engineer Venugopal and Deputy EOs Venkateswarlu and Somannarayana were among the officials on the inspection.

A day to fix app faults

The walk followed a review, a day earlier, of how the temple body collects and acts on pilgrims’ feedback. At that meeting on Wednesday, 11 November, held in the Sudharma hall of the Padmavathi guest house in Tirumala, Chowdary ordered daily monitoring of the Nandakam app and said any technical fault in it must be cleared within 24 hours.

He also wanted surveillance cameras installed, and boxes for written complaints placed, at the luggage counters where pilgrims leave their bags before joining the queue. The Annaprasadam complex is to get a help desk for pilgrims’ questions. Accommodation complexes were to be kept cleaner and their basic amenities improved, and pilgrims were to be made aware of saving water and electricity.

Five days of crowds

The orders come as the hill shrine draws heavy weekday numbers. TTD’s daily bulletins show 393,681 pilgrims had darshan between 7 and 11 November, peaking at 83,609 on 9 November and easing to 73,392 on 11 November. Hundi offerings over those five days came to about Rs 19.13 crore, and 137,301 devotees offered their hair at the tonsure centres.

On the morning of 12 November, the Sarva Darshan queue for pilgrims without slotted (SSD) tokens had spilled out of the waiting compartments as far as Silathoranam, and TTD put the waiting time at 15 to 18 hours. The temple’s annual Pushpayagam falls on Monday, 16 November.