The water situation at Tirumala, the abode of Lord Venkateswara, is quite different this year. On the one hand the reservoirs in the sacred hills are brimming while on the other the usage has plummeted due to the COVID-19 restrictions on darshan.
For the first time in the last two decades all the five drinking water projects here have ample reserves even before the conclusion of the monsoon season, thanks to copious rain, that will suffice for the next 300 days.
The combined reserves of all the five are put around 12,886.49 lakh gallons as against their full storage of 14,304.49.
The Papavinasanam dam, the biggest of all the projects, currently has 5,134 lakh gallons as against its capacity of 5,240 lakh gallons, followed by the Kumaradhara dam at 4,245 lakh gallons (4,258), the Gogarbham dam 1,827 (2,833) the Pasupudhara dam 1,278 (1,288) and the Akasa Ganga dam 401 (685).
Shutdown in peak season
The closure of the temple for public for 80 days in view of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought down water usage to an all-time low during the summer, which is the peak pilgrim season. The summer consumption shoots up to 42 lakh gallons a day, as against 32 lakh on normal days, and the deficit is normally met by drawing 18 to 20 lakh gallons from the Telugu Ganga – via Kandaleru in Nellore and Kailasagiri in Sri Kalahasti – and a dozen borewells at Tirupati, according to Superintending Engineer (II) Nageswara Rao. This year, the temple management has resolved not to draw water temporarily from Telugu Ganga.
The town receives the maximum rains during the southeast monsoons from October to December – about 1,100 mm against its annual rainfall of 1,364 mm.
