The temple city of Tirupati is witnessing never seen before growth. The focus Tirupati has seen in the last 4 years with multiple internal roads, master plan roads is addressing traffic woes of the ever growing city.
The infrastructure development has unfolded a platform for unprecedented growth, connecting even the remotest of localities to the heart of the city.
The 550 crore Srinivasa Sethu elevated expressway connecting the east-south-north parts of the city, setting up of more than 17 master plan roads within the city have all been achieved by the municipal corporation of Tirupati within a span of just one and half years.
And while the denizens of the temple city and the visiting devotees alike are experiencing seamless traffic, the MCT says we are not done yet. The MCT says there are plenty of other milestones that will make Tirupati truly a world-class smart city.
The young team of corporators led by Bhumana Abhinay Reddy have now taken up the daunting task of improving the sanitation standards of this holy city by roping in the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam as an equal partner.
Now for the Question of the hour! Is it, Why should the TTD partner with the Tirupati municipal corporation to keep the temple city clean? Or… Why not?
Let’s answer this with a few other questions.
Why is this partnership between TTD and MCT being questioned?
This is not a first for Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam. TTD for several decades now, partnered with several bodies for the development of Tirupati. TTD, Government of Andhra Pradesh, and the Tata trust established Sri Venkateswara institute of cancer care & advanced research (SVICCAR). And since long ago, TTD has also partnered with APSRTC, to provide a comfortable travel experience for the devotees along the twin ghat roads connecting Tirumala with Tirupati.
TTD's top ten properties in terms of valuation are all located in Tirupati and these properties include schools, colleges, universities and hospitals established by the TTD in the temple city.
Why should TTD and MCT partner to improve sanitation in Tirupati?
Tirupati, the administrative headquarters of the TTD is also home to eight prominent temples including Sri Govindaraja Swamy temple, Sri Kodanda Rama Swamy temple, Kapila Teertham temple etc, under the administrative control of the TTD for more than 9 decades now.
While the city's residential population is around five lakh, the city attracts a pilgrim footfall of 3.65 crore devotees on an average every year. So when TTD decides to partner with MCT for world class sanitation, what they are truly doing is coming together to benefit the visiting devotees and residents alike.
Without these TTD partnerships, Tirupati’s Srinivasa Sethu Flyover, SVICCAR, hospitals, educational institutions, multiple roads across the city would have just remained a dream.
The allotment of funds for Sanitation is covered by the TTD Act. An act governed by the Andhra Pradesh charitable and Hindu religious institutions and Endowments Act that permits the Tirupati trust to spend it's funds to develop world-class services to the visiting devotees.
While it's common for opposition parties to criticise the governments in office for being anti-developmental, or for being slow on the development front, it's the contrary in Tirupati, where the opposition parties are trying to stall the pro-development plans of the Tirupati municipal corporation and the TTD in the garb of "diversion of funds", which is nothing short of a farce.
It is time for the Tirupati locals to stand up and acknowledge the development done by the Tirupati municipal corporation and to extend support in good faith to ensure continued development to transform this holy city into a world-class spiritual city.