Goof-up in declaring Tirumala as containment zone

Tirupati: Was it a goof-up or is the administration trying to hide the reality? This has become the hot topic of debate in Tirupati as the district administration issued an official communique declaring Tirumala, the abode of Lord Venkateswara, as a containment zone and made a hasty retreat later.

As the first communique came, the news got flashed in all news channels and this created a flutter among the employees of Tirumala, the devotees and the TTD authorities as well since it is just one month ago the temple was reopened for devotees and so far no pilgrim was reported to be COVID-19.

Following hurried consultations, the administration announced that it was withdrawing the earlier notification which they said was a mistake.

District Collector Dr Narayan Bharath Gupta said that only 200 metres area around the APSP Barracks in Tirumala Hills was declared as 'containment zone' following 39 personnel of the APSP found positive and not the entire hill top temple town Tirumala.

The Collector said as per the latest guidelines of the ICMR, areas around 200 metres, where the Covid-19 cases are reported, is to be declared 'containment zone'. He said the persons responsible for issuing the earlier communique have been warned for their lapse.

He also lauded the TTD administration for its elaborate arrangements for safe darshan of pilgrims and urged the public not to have any misconception of `darshan'.

"Only those with a high-level of awareness are coming for darshan and are scrupulously following safety norms like maintaining social distance while proceeding for darshan," the Collector said.