Four Mada roads adjoining the main temple on Tirumala Hills were flooded
Amaravati Tirupati:
Tirumala, the abode of Lord Venkateswara, was engulfed in heavy floods of unprecedented scale on Thursday, leaving hundreds of pilgrims stranded, even as heavy rains under the influence of a depression in the Bay of Bengal lashed temple-town Tirupati and many parts. There was a flood. Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh.
The four ‘mada lanes’ adjacent to the main temple on the Tirumala hills remained submerged like the Vaikuntham queue complex (cellar).
The darshan of the deity almost came to a standstill as the pilgrims could not come out due to the floods.
Many roads were inundated after heavy rain
The Japali Anjaneya Swamy Temple at Tirumala was submerged and the idol of the Lord was submerged.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams authorities arranged free food and accommodation for the stranded pilgrims on the holy hills.
In view of the situation, TTD executive officer KS Jawahar Reddy declared a holiday for the office staff on Friday.
Official sources close to PTI said two ghats leading to Tirumala hills were closed for traffic following floods and landslides.
After heavy rains, the temple town got stuck in the severe flood
He said that the walkway leading to the temple from Alipiri has also been closed.
Tirupati International Airport in Renigunta also remained submerged, forcing the authorities to stop the landing of oncoming planes.
Airport director S Suresh said two passenger flights that landed at Tirupati from Hyderabad and Bengaluru were asked to return. He said that a scheduled flight from New Delhi has been canceled due to the prevailing weather.
The office of the TTD Additional Executive Officer in Tirumala was lying vacant like many guest houses.
Official sources said three rooms in the Narayangiri Guest House complex were damaged by the landslide, but no untoward incident was reported as the rooms were vacant.
The pilgrims staying in other rooms in Narayangiri and the nearby SV Guest House were shifted to other accommodation.
At Srinivas Mangapuram near Tirupati, two autos were washed away as the Swarnamukhi drain was in spate.
A bridge on the Renigunta-Kadapa highway in Anjaneyapuram remains in a precarious condition. A truck was stuck on the bridge, causing traffic jams on both sides, while police reached the spot for rescue operations.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy spoke to Chittoor District Collector M Hari Narayanan and reviewed the situation.
A CMO release said Jagan asked the collector to closely monitor the water level and take necessary steps accordingly.
“Deploy NDRF and SDRF teams and carry out rescue and relief work. All line departments should be on alert and take necessary action as per the situation,” the chief minister said.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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