Four maada streets adjacent to the main temple on Tirumala Hills, still flooded
Amaravati Tirupati:
Tirumala, the abode of Lord Venkateswara, suffered unprecedented floods on Thursday, trapping hundreds of pilgrims even as a downpour under the influence of a low pressure in the Bay of Bengal battered the temple – the town of Tirupati and many parts of the Chittoor District in Andhra Pradesh.
The four ‘maada streets’ adjacent to the main temple on Tirumala Hills, still flooded, as well as the Vaikuntham (cellar) queuing complex.
The Darshan of the God has mostly stalled as pilgrims cannot venture outside because of the flooding.
Many roads were flooded after heavy rain
The Japali Anjaneya Swamy temple on Tirumala was flooded and the idol was submerged.
Tirumala officials Tirupati Devasthanams arranged free food and accommodation for pilgrims stranded on the holy hills.
TTD CEO KS Jawahar Reddy has declared a holiday on Friday for the office staff in view of the situation.
Official sources close to PTI said two roads leading to Tirumala Hills were closed to traffic following floods and landslides.
The temple town is heavily flooded after heavy rain
They said the pedestrian stairs leading to the temple from Alipiri had also been closed.
Tirupati International Airport at Renigunta also remained under water, forcing authorities to halt the landings of incoming planes.
Airport director S Suresh said two passenger flights scheduled to land in Tirupati from Hyderabad and Bengaluru had been asked to turn back. A scheduled flight from New Delhi has been canceled due to the current weather conditions, he added.
TTD’s additional CEO office in Tirumala remains in place, as do many of the guest houses.
Official sources say a landslide damaged three rooms at the Narayanagiri guesthouse complex but there is no word on resources as the rooms are uninhabited.
Pilgrims staying in other rooms in Narayanagiri and the nearby SV guesthouse have been moved to other accommodation.
In Srinivasa Mangapuram near Tirupati, two cars were swept away while the Swarnamukhi sled was still intact.
A bridge on the Renigunta-Kadapa highway remains in a precarious position at Anjaneyapuram. A truck was stuck on the bridge, causing traffic jams on either side, even as police arrived at the scene to conduct a rescue operation.
YS Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy spoke with Chittoor District Collector M Hari Narayanan and reviewed the situation.
Mr. Jagan has asked Collectors to closely monitor water levels and take necessary steps accordingly, a CMO statement said.
“Deploy NDRF and SDRF teams and conduct rescue and relief operations. All departments need to stay alert and take necessary actions according to the situation,” said the minister.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
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