Tirupati: Tirumala security is of paramount importance to government says Harish Gupta

Tirupati : Security of Tirumala, the abode of Lord Venkateswara Swamy, is of paramount importance to the government, said Principal Secretary (Home) Harish Kumar Gupta, at a high level meeting on the recommendations of various departments on strengthening Tirumala security, here on Thursday.

A three-tier security will be set up making Tirumala security impregnable, he said, informing that Artificial Intelligence and latest technology like CCTV cameras in the ‘Integrated Command Control System’ for round-the-clock effective surveillance covering the entire holy hills, footpaths, ghat roads and other establishments like reservoirs, Boondipotu, pilgrims, cottages etc. All the security agencies including those of TTD and also of police department functioning in Tirumala will be brought under one umbrella for effective coordination.

In addition, the Principal Secretary said a separate cyber wing will be created for TTD to ensure safety of all TTD servers to function under the vigilance department, and informed that more scanners and lanes will be provided at Alipiri toll gate for checking vehicles going to Tirumala.

He said that the other important measures proposed based on the recommendations include inducting drone technology, recruitment of more women security staff to overcome severe shortage of women security personnel, allowing pilgrims only after checking at Alipiri footpath before they start trekking the hill path, daily anti-sabotage checking of the outer-ring road by a bomb disposal squad and fully armed QR (quick response) team, which was deployed in the four Mada streets around the shrine for immediate response in case of any incidents or emergencies.

It may be noted here that Gupta was appointed as the head of the high level Tirumala security committee by the State government following a series of securing breaches surfacing in Tirumala, in May.

ISW IG Sasidhar Reddy said Tirumala is the most crowded holy place visited by devotees from across the country and abroad, direly requiring constant update of security set up and regular review for safety of multitude of the pilgrims and safety of the most popular shrine. TTD vigilance wing following the advanced security setup involving latest technology and trained personnel, he said lauding TTD security. SP Parameswara Reddy, senior police and TTD officials were present.