Traffic congestion reaches its peak in Tiruchanur

Tirupati: The traffic congestion in Tiruchanur where Goddess Padmavathi temple, the second largest after Tirumala both in income wise and footfall of pilgrims, resulting in jamming of vehicular movement often causing much inconvenience to the locals, devotees and also the people of villages in Tirupati rural, who have to invariably pass through the town.

It is a daily scene, the drivers of the pilgrim vehicles coming from various places for darshan, indulging in a verbal clash over parking of their vehicles while on weekends when the pilgrim rush is more, the contractor allowing vehicles all along the road on both sides, ignoring the smooth movement of vehicles on the busy road connecting the town with dozens of villages in Tirupati rural adding more to the problem.

The unbridled hawkers with pushcarts selling food items occupying the road margins adding more to the traffic congestion making it a tough exercise to pass through the road from Gantal statue to the point near Swarnamukhi river. Interestingly, though sheds were with compartments constructed for shops, the concerned authorities including the Panchayat and police were unable to locate the hawkers in the shops built for them, continuing the encroachment of road was one of the factor for the traffic problem which is increasing following the pilgrim rush to the shrine increased significantly, in the recent months following the dip in Covid cases. Though the Panchayat gets a huge income through parking fee, so far it has not developed a parking lot for vehicles which will be around 500 daily and will be more during important festivals in the temple. The TTD management also remained silent despite the pilgrims providing

them considerable income, facing difficulties due to no proper parking place with basic facilities for the drivers to rest. Tiruchanur Sarpanch Keerakatu Ramachandra Reddy said the delay in developing a parking place was due to no land available in the town. A place near Swarnamukhi river was identified where the Panchayat would make arrangements for parking vehicles soon to end the traffic problem which admitted was severe due to increasing pilgrim flow.

A septuagenarian temple priest said TTD instead of depending on Panchayat, the TTD in the interest of pilgrims should take the responsibility of developing a parking lot in its area in the town.