TIRUMALA: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams is starting ‘bicycle hubs' at various points on Tirumala in a phased manner for commuting by pilgrims from one place to another on the hill. Pilgrims can pedal from from one place to another, and leave the vehicle at the nearest hub.It plans to purchase 200 or 400 cycles and keep them at three or four ideal locations, allowing pilgrims to commute one place to another place and leave the cycle in that area hub.As part of the plan, two dozen bicycles were purchased and brought to Tirumala on Monday. District collector Solomon Arogyaraj and TTD joint executive officer KS Srinivasa Raju distributed the cycles to Tirupati Urban J Prabhakar Rao, Tirumala deputy superintendent of police Umamaheswara Sarma and some other policemen.Chief vigilance and security officer MK Singh, additional VGO Shivakumar Reddy, superintendent engineer Ramesh Reddy and others went cycling from the GNC tollgate to the temple.Srinivasa Raju said Tirumala was facing an increasing threat of pollution with tens of thousand of vehicles being operated every day round the clock. “The TTD is taking steps to protect the environment and this is the first time it has banned two-wheelers to Tirumala on the Garuda Seva day, the fifth day of the annual Srivari Brahmotsavams, which attracts lakhs of people. We also imposed total ban on vehicular movement, particularly private jeeps and taxis, on the hill,'' he said."Premier educational institutions use cycles for internal transport and in several other developed countries bicycles are used more for commuting short distances," the JEO explained.The TTD move has surprised local people who said till now the TTD had cracked whip on those bringing bicycles for their children and even registered cases against them.
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