TIRUMALA: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), hereafter, will not take over temples. The TTD had taken over 32 temples from 1982.Speaking to the media on the sidelines of Dial Your EO Programme held in Tirumala on Friday, TTD Executive Officer KS Jawahar Reddy said a decision to this effect was taken in the Trust Board meeting after a lengthy discussion. The TTD has been incurring heavy expenditure on maintenance of the temples taken over by it. Adding to this, the absorption of the temple employees into the TTD is leading to service issues, he said.
“The people of the region where the temple was taken over by the TTD, are demanding conduct of rituals on par with that of Tirumala temple though there is no rush of devotees,” he said. The TTD, however, will extend all possible cooperation and financial help to temples for development of infrastructure and pilgrim amenities though it will not take over them hereafter, the EO said.
The temple should be an ancient one or it should be rich in sculpture or having other significance to extend
financial aid by the TTD, the EO said. The TTD recently revised its budget estimates for the financial year 2020-21 from Rs 2,973 crore to Rs 2,653 crore as there was a decline in its revenue with the closure of Tirumala temple due to the Covid-induced lockdown.
Further, the EO stated that the lease period of TTD Kalyana Mandapams has been increased to five years from three. “The TTD Trust Board recently took the decision to increase the lease period to five years as the lessee has to spend more on its repairs and maintenance. Hence, the lease period should be more to make it viable,’’ he said.Speaking on other initiatives, Jawahar Reddy said the TTD is planning to produce more green energy. Steps are being taken to produce 5 MW non-conventional energy through various means.
One of them is tapping solar power. The TTD will set up solar panels on the rooftops of its offices in Tirumala and Tirupati to harness power. “Installation of rooftop solar panels to generate 1 MW power is proposed on the TTD administrative building in Tirupati. Plans are also afoot to set up a 1 MW solar power unit in Tirumala,’’ he said.“We have also received a suggestion for installation of solar panels on the rooftop of Alipiri-Tirumala pathway. The suggestion is under consideration,’’ he said.
Setting up of a comprehensive biogas plant is also under active consideration to generate 1 MW power from the waste generated by Annadanam complex and also from other sources,” TTD Additional EO AV Dharma Reddy said.“A survey is going on at Kakula Konda to install windmills for power generation. A philanthropist has come forward to bear its cost,’’ he said. Similarly, the TTD is also planning to install solar panels in 25 acres of land at Dharmagiri in Tirumala to generate power.
On introduction of electric buses, Jawahar Reddy said they are aiming to convert all the existing TTD vehicles into green ones. “We are planning to start the prestigious project with the conversion of vehicles of TTD officials as electric vehicles first,’’ he said. The EO said the APSRTC is also planning to procure 150 electric buses exclusively to ply the vehicles between Tirumala and Alipiri bus station.”“With the help of a Central scheme, the APSRTC is planning to replace its existing fleet of buses with electric vehicles,” he said.
Multi-level vehicle parking complexes will come up at Tirumala and Tirupati. A complex with a capacity of 2,000 vehicles at Alipiri and another with a capacity of 1,500 vehicles at Tirumala will be set up. In view of Covid-19, pilgrims are preferring to visit Tirumala in personal vehicles, which resulted in increase in vehicular traffic to Tirumala. Alipiri is one of the strategic locations to streamline the vehicular flow to Tirumala. So we have proposed to set up a multi-level parking complex at the place, Chief Vigilance and Security Officer Gopinath Jetty said.
TTD to extend aid
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams will extend all cooperation and financial help to ancient temples for development of infrastructure and pilgrim amenities