Tirumala 2nd ghat road to be reopened on Jan 11

Tirumala: The repair works on the Up ghat road (second ghat road) to Tirumala, the abode of Lord Venkateswara, will be completed and vehicular traffic will be allowed from the night of January 11, according to TTD Chairman Y V Subba Reddy. Keeping in view the heavy influx of pilgrims' arrival for the rare Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam in the famed Tirumala temple, which will begin on the auspicious Vaikunta Ekadasi Day on January 13 and will conclude

on January 22, the TTD carried out the repairs works of the damaged road on a war foot basis and completed it within a month. TTD roped in experts from IIT, New Delhi and Chennai and also Amrutha Viswa Vidyapeetham, Kollam, Kerala in availing expert opinion on the restoration of the damaged ghat road.

TTD Chairman on Sunday inspected the restoration works going in full swing on the second ghat road. He interacted with the team of engineers of AFCON which has undertaken the ghat road repair works and wanted them to complete the works and see the road be brought into use for pilgrims by January 11 night.

In order to cope with the heavy traffic on the occasion of the 10-day Vaikunta Ekadasi-Dwadasi darshanam, the Up ghat road will be read by Tuesday night, he said.

It may be noted here that the Up ghat road to Tirumala was severely damaged after multiple landslides displacing huge boulders falling on the road at several places on the ghat road, in the aftermath of heavy rains that lashed in two spells Tirupati-Tirumala on December 1 forcing the TTD close the road and allowed both up and down traffic on the same first ghat road resulting in traffic snarls.

After a few days, TTD opened the link road connecting the Up and Down ghat road at Mokalimitta point but the traffic problem continued due to rush of pilgrims which is going to end in two days with the completion of the second ghat road repair works.