Tirumala ghat road: Spike in mishaps a cause for worry

Motorists blame travel time limit

September 22, 2018 11:44 pm | Updated September 23, 2018 10:06 am IST - Tirumala

Tirumala ghat road

Tirumala ghat road

A journey through the Tirumala ghat roads, which otherwise should provide an exhilarating feeling to the pilgrims, chanting “Govinda, Venkataramana Govinda”, has, of late, turned out to be not so good experience with a spurt in the number of road accidents.

The fact that more than 100 accident cases have been registered so far this year testifies the trend.

As the temple of Lord Venkateswara is frequented by several high profile dignitaries, the Tirumala ghat roads rank first among the best maintained in the country. The increase in the number of accidents has become a cause for concern to both the TTD as well as the pilgrims.

The disturbing trend could mainly be attributed to overspeeding and evolution of new generation vehicles primed with high-powered engines, in addition to the abnormal increase in the vehicular traffic.

There is a phenomenal increase in the movement of vehicles on the ghat roads which at present is put around 5,000 vehicles a day in sharp contrast to a few hundred during the mid-80s.

This apart, the ‘travel time’ limit imposed by the TTD is also said to be contributing to the increase in the accidents. The stipulation specifies a minimum of 40 minutes to cover the 17.4-km journey while motoring down to Tirupati. According to statistics, more number of accidents are registered on the first ghat road leading to Tirupati.

Drivers reportedly complain of relaxation behind the wheel owing to the extended duration specified for the downward journey.

Some motorists feel that the TTD could install “speed radar guns” at all the accident-prone points to check overspeeding instead of fixing the travel time on the ghat roads. The installation of speed radar guns will not only instil fear of being caught among the vehicle drivers but will also help in identifying the erring motorists.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.