The TTD management has, at last, decided to address the perennial problem being faced by the devotees reaching Tirumala along the Alipiri footpath.
Those trekking the Alipiri pathway are subjected to intense difficulties at Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple where the footpath intersects the ghat road leading to Tirupati. Pilgrims, who generally undertake the arduous route in the company of their family members in fulfilment of their prayer, find it a challenging task traversing the entire stretch of about two km from here to the historical Mokalla Parvatham which remains besieged with ceaseless vehicular traffic round the clock.
Efforts made in past
Even on several occasions in the past, the TTD tried to find a permanent remedy to the nagging issue, it was rather forced to remain contended with an ephemeral solution that attenuated with the passing of time every time it endeavoured.
The construction of Annamaiah marg with over 600 steps, an iron foot-over-bridge on the route besides bringing back to life the ancient Chandragiri footpath route with improvements are among a few things to mention.
However, following steep increase in the number of pilgrims reaching the sacred town on foot in the recent years, the management has turned its attention on finding a lasting solution to the issue. Statistics reveal that while around 20,000 pilgrims reach the town on an average on normal days, the number nearly doubles during the weekends and shoots up beyond 50,000 on important days and festive occasions.
Talking to The Hindu, TTD Executive Officer D. Sambasiva Rao has said that the management is already in the process of finding a remedy to the issue.
“Our engineers are exploring various options. Even though there is a scope for widening the entire stretch of two-km road, it is but laced with constraints given the topography of the hills. We need to look into the possibilities of cutting the rock on one side and widening of the road on the other and if permitted go for suspension bridges at some dicey points.
