The elevated corridor ‘Garuda Varadhi’, which is slowly yet steadily progressing despite the funds crunch, has landed into a fresh controversy on Tuesday, with the council meeting of the Municipal Corporation of Tirupati (MCT) giving it a new name ‘Srinivasa Sethu’.
“The flyover, which starts at the abode of Goddess Padmavathi in Tiruchanur and lands at the foot of Tirumala hills, has no official name so far and hence the council has decided to give it a new name,” announced Tirupati MLA Bhumana Karunakar Reddy, who attended as a special invitee to the meeting.
He insisted that ‘Garuda Varadhi’ was not a name officially given to the flyover. “More so, a section of the public raised objection over using the sacred name of ‘Garuda’, considered the celestial carrier of Lord Venkateswara, to a bridge where the vehicles are allowed to pass,” he said.
He however remained non-committal on christening the same bridge as ‘Srinivasa Sethu’, a more reverential name. Mayor R. Sireesha, who chaired the meeting, announced to have accepted all the resolutions passed in the meeting. Deputy Mayors B. Abhinay Reddy, Mudra Narayana and the other councillors gave their nod to the projects proposed by Commissioner P.S. Gireesha.
TDP stages protest
TDP councillor R.C. Munikrishna raised objection to the name change, boycotted the meeting and staged a dharna outside along with G. Narasimha Yadav, the TDP’s in-charge for Tirupati parliamentary constituency. “The project was originally named by former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and hence the ‘reversal’ decision,” he fumed. He appealed to politicians not to play with sentimental issues.
Taking exception to the ‘unilateral’ decision, Congress leader and former councillor P. Naveen Reddy questioned how the MCT could take a decision without the knowledge of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), a major funding partner.
“The project is coming up with TTD funds. The council’s decision will have ramifications beyond the name change. What if the TTD declines funds in future, saying that the flyover is no more ‘Garuda Varadhi’?”, he questioned. Leaders from across the political spectrum appealed to the council to rethink on its decision.
