Tirumala to face acute water shortage

• Serious summer woes stare at world famous shrine

• Water reserves could last for another 186 days only

• TTD supplies 2.5 million gallons of water every day

• TTD pins hopes on north-east monsoon

Tirumala: The world famous pilgrim centre Tirumala is going to face acute water shortage in the next six months if the drying up of water sources is any indication. The water scarcity has been attributed to the severe drought condition in Chittoor district.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) has been supplying 2.5 million gallons of water to the visiting devotees daily may not supply the same after 186 days. The officials calculated that the water reserves were sufficient for the next 186 days only.

In essence, Tirumala is going to face acute water shortage in the next summer. Though for the rest of the State rainfall occurs in June with the advent of northeast monsoon, in Chittoor district, it was southwest monsoon that brings rain in October. As a result, the water shortage will hit the devotees visiting this important pilgrimage centre. The officials have already put in place various conditions to the local population and the shopkeepers atop Tirumala.

On any given day, 40,000 to 55,000 pilgrims visit the world’s richest pilgrim centre and during the weekend days the number of pilgrims reaches one lakh. In the case of continuous holidays, the number of pilgrims may cross even one lakh.

Pilgrims from all over the country visit the one of the ancient pilgrim centres in the country which results in enormous delay to have Darshan of Balaji. During the normal days, it takes eight hours to have ‘Sarva Darshan’ and during the busy days, it takes at least 24 hours. In this backdrop, it has become a herculean task for the TTD to supply the basic necessity of water to the devotees.

In spite of the initiative taken by the TTD to overcome water problem by constructing various water reservoirs with huge capacity, the problem has been haunting the TTD.

The TTD has built a Gogarbham reservoir with the capacity of 2,890 ft FRL (full reservoir level), Akasha Ganga Dam with a capacity to store 0.20 tmcft and Papavinashanam Dam with a capacity to store 0.90 tmcft. The State government issued a GO long back to increase water flow into Kalyani Dam to overcome the crisis. In addition the government has also allowed drawing water from eleven bore wells in various areas in Tirupati town.

On any given day, at least 2.5 million gallons of water is necessary for the pilgrims. However, during the weekend days, the usage reaches 4 million gallons. So far, the TTD has been pumping 2 to 2.5 million gallons of water from the dams in Tirumala every day. Keeping in view the future demands, the TTD has also constructed Kumaradhara and Pasupudhara projects with a capacity of 1 tmcft. At present, 3,397 lakh gallons of water in Kumaradhara, 797 lahk gallons in Pasupudhara is available. The major reservoir at Papavinashanam Dam has 1810 lakh gallons of water while 530 lakh gallons is available in Gogarbham Dam.

After Kalyani Dam turned dry, the TTD is pumping 4.40 lakh gallons from 11 bore wells daily.

In addition the TTD had sunk bore wells at Narayanagiri, Alwar Tank and other areas. The TTD has been drawing one lakh gallons of water from all the bore wells in Tirumala every day.

As per the statistics, the officials have come to conclusion that there may not be sufficient water during summer as there was no water in Kalyani Dam.

Meanwhile, the State Government had issued orders to supply half tmcft to Tirumala for which the TTD has yet to decide the storage point.

Though the TTD has decided to supply water to the commercial complexes only for two hours, the JEO Srinivasa Raju increased the duration to four hours. 7,000 cottages: There are 7,000 cottages for pilgrims atop Tirumala of which 720 cottages are in Padmavati guest house for VIPs and 150 cottages are allotted for TTD staff, government and private offices. Of the rest of the 5,250 cottages which are for pilgrims, more than 1,000 are under repair and renovation. In essence, only 4,000 cottages are available for pilgrims.

In addition, cottages belonging to 21 mutts/pithams are also available for devotees. The TTD has also constructed three more complexes to accommodate 30,000 pilgrims during the rush reason in addition to the 25,000 pilgrims accommodated in TTD cottages.

The TTD has also constructed huge sheds to give shelter to about 5,000 pilgrims who prefer to take short rest without going for cottages. All these pilgrims need water for their basic needs.

Another major water consuming point is Kalyana Katta, where the pilgrims offer hair to the god.

In view of all these issues, TTD officials should take immediate precautions to restore water supply by expediting pipeline work from the Kandaleru reservoir before the summer.