A massive landslip was reported on the second ghat road leading to Tirumala in the early hours of Tuesday.
The incident took place about one kilometre ahead of the town. Huge boulders along with the rubble from atop a mountain cliff, in the vicinity of Sri Dova Bhasyakarla sannidhi, tumbled down and fell across the road. The landslip was so massive that the road was severely damaged at two different locations and a small stretch of parapet wall also got washed away on the road below. However, no casualties were reported.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) engineering, forest and vigilance personnel rushed to the spot and cleared the debris. As a temporary measure, the vehicular traffic which remained disrupted for over three hours was diverted onto the link road.
The town had never experienced such unprecedented rains in the past thirty years. Restoration works on the damaged road have been taken up on a war-footing and the TTD will regulate ‘to and fro’ traffic on the first ghat road till the completion of works.
TTD Chairman Y.V. Subba reddy said experts from the Indian Institute of Technology, (IIT) Delhi would inspect the ghat roads and suggest precautionary measures to be adopted to avoid the recurrence of such landslips in the future. The team is scheduled to reach Tirumala by Wednesday evening.
Speaking to the media, Mr. Reddy said the team would inspect the second ghat road, leading to the sacred shrine of Lord Venkateswara, that was badly damaged in the landslip.
Devotees who wish to postpone their pilgrimage due to heavy rains can choose an alternative date for darshan within a period of six months.
