Construction of sub-way, FoB : Engineers await green signal from TTD

• A TTD earmarks Rs 1.25cr for sub-way
• A Rs 75 lakhs for Foot-over-Bridge
• A Contract awarded to private firm
• A 70,000 pilgrims visit Tirupati every day
• A Bid to minimize traffic woes

Tirupati: The Engineering Department of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams is awaiting the green signal to start the civil works for the construction of a sub-way near the RTC bus stand and a Foot-Over-Bridge at the railway station, announced TTD's Superintending Engineer Sudhakar here at Tirupati on Tuesday. "We are confident of completing the sub-way project in six months and the FoB by year-end," explained Sudhakar. The TTD has earmarked a budget of Rs 1.25 crores for the construction of the sub-way and Rs 75 lakhs for the FoB, he said.A TTD has already awarded the construction contract to a private company through the e-tender process, Sudhakar added.A The reason behind the two projects was to minimize the traffic woes of both the 70,000 odd pilgrims who arrive at the religious centre and the vehicle users in the city. Once the projects are completed, there would be a free flow of vehicular traffic on Tirumala bye-pass road soon. Giving details of the sub-way, the Superintending Engineer said that many pilgrims are using the busiest road to reach Srinivasam Pilgrim Cottage Complex. So, there is a scope for road accidents, hence, the Task Force Committee that was set up by TTD had decided to construct a sub-way. A The sub-way was planned to connect the RTC bus terminus and Srinivasam Pilgrim Cottage Complex. Tirupati Urban Superintendent of Police SV Rajasekhar Babu, TTD Chief Vigilance and Security Officer GVG Ashok, Superintending Engineer Sudhakar, Traffic Deputy Superintendent of Police and others recently reviewed the conditions at the project sites.A The subway will start near the entry point of RTC bus stand and end at the private bus stand, which is on the other side of the existing Tirumala bye-pass road, Sudhakar said. He added that they have designed the sub-way to have two outlets on Srivasam side so that pilgrims can enter the sub-way and go to Srinivasam or towards private bus stand. But there will be only one outlet in RTC bus stand direction, he pointed out.A Once the sub-way is constructed, a separate footpath would be laid beside the compound wall to enter the Srinivasam building. Meanwhile, the Foot-Over-Bridge on completion would be connecting Vishnu Nivasam. With a view to lessen the strain of the pilgrims, TTD is planning to provide escalator facility for the FoB at both ends. A senior engineer of TTD said that the Railway Department will take care of setting up the escalators inside the railway station premises and the TTD will erect two escalators inside Vishnu Nivasam premises.