TTD’s experimental e-dip system draws flak

The less-than-normal crowd witnessed at the Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirumala on the first three days of ‘Vaikuntha Dwara Darshan’ and the sudden spurt witnessed from the fourth day has raised questions about crowd management of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).

The e-dip system introduced this year, wherein darshan was allotted randomly to applicants from across the country and even to some abroad, has also been criticised for having changed the demography of the visiting crowd.

The first three days witnessed a footfall of 67,053 (December 30), 70,256 (December 31) and 65,225 (January 1), which are considered much lower than the TTD’s actual handling capacity even on lean days.

Chosen few

Govindamala devotees clad in yellow, who reach Tirumala on Vaikuntha Ekadasi day to relinquish their vow of abstinence, raised hue and cry over the lack of provision in the computer-allotted darshan system to include them as a team.

“Generally, devotees choose to visit a temple, but in the e-dip, the TTD chooses the devotees it wanted to visit Tirumala,” says M. Ganesan, a devotee who treks to Tirumala every year all the way from his house in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Ganesan was among the several unfortunate devotees who could not get token under the e-dip system on the first three days.

Lowering the bar

Andhra Pradesh State Biodiversity Board (APSBB) Chairperson N. Vijay Kumar questioned the TTD’s move to lower the bar of its handling capacity and then claim success in crowd management. “The TTD’s action runs contrary to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s aim of increasing pilgrim footfall by focusing on spiritual tourism,” he said.

YSRCP district president and TTD trust board former chairperson Bhumana Karunakar Reddy also blamed the TTD for the “underperformance”, which he attributed to the “deliberate spread of fear” among the devotees.

Taking note of the mounting criticism, especially on media platforms, TTD chairperson B.R. Naidu announced to discuss the same in the forthcoming meeting of the trust board on January 8.