Only 2 guests will be allowed in TTD rooms: EO A V Dharma Reddy
TTD Addl EO speaking at a review on Covid guidelines at Tirumala on Wednesday
Tirumala: TTD additional EO A V Dharma Reddy on Wednesday directed officials to take extra precautions on devotees' health security in view of Covid spike in the country, including the pilgrim city.
Addressing a review at Annamaiah Bhavan in Tirumala, the additional EO urged them to make foolproof arrangements for Srivari Darshan as per new Covid guidelines.
He said thermal scanners were installed at Anna Prasadam centres and room allotment sub-centres while only two persons were allowed per room which will be allotted only after sanitisation after each vacation.
Devotees visiting Tirumala were urged to bring their own masks and sanitisers and they should compulsorily wear masks at all crowded locations of Tirumala like Vaikuntam queue complex, Srivari temple, Anna Prasadam Complex, Kalyanakatta and sanitise the region once in 2 hours he said seeking the devotees strictly follow physical social distancing at Tirumala.
In order to minimise the crowd on the hills, TTD decided to allow the devotees with time slot tokens who are coming on vehicles at Alipiri checkpoint by 1 pm of previous day and for the devotees (with time slot tokens) who walk to Tirumala to be allowed at Alipiri and Srivari Mettu at 9 am of the previous day.
While in Vaikuntam queue complex devotees will be allowed 30 minutes before the allotted time slot for darshan.
All vehicles to be sanitised at Alipiri and devotees to undergo thermal scanning, additional EO said urging those suffering with cold, cough and fever should postpone their Tirumala visit.
Heads of each department should see all employees are vaccinated and TTD will publicise precautionary measures of Covid through radio broadcasting in five languages.
He said TTD also slashed the issuing of the offline free SSD token daily to 15,000 and wanted the devotees from other states, including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana to take note of the reduction with immediate effect.
The TTD daily issued 22,000 offline tokens for free darshan while 25,000 special entry Rs 300 tickets.