Top official audits security at Tirumala

TIRUPATI: Top officials audited the security at Tirumala, the abode of Lord Venkateswara, at a high-level meeting held at Annamaiah Bhavan atop the hill on Tuesday in the presence of principal secretary (Home) Harish Kumar Gupta.

Officials discussed how security could be enhanced in Tirumala in view of an increase in the number of pilgrims and vehicular traffic post Covid pandemic.

The principal secretary opined that there is need for a comprehensive security audit. All security forces should be brought under a single command for providing fool proof security cover in Tirumala.

Harish Kumar said, “Under supervision of SP-level officers, committees will be formed to study the Tirumala area in depth. Based on suggestions of these committees, we will create the most sophisticated security system.”

Noting that each component of TTD administration, from darshan tickets to accommodations, is connected to devotees' Aadhaar card data, the principal secretary stated that highest degree of cyber security will be developed to keep the data of devotees secure and avoid cyber-attacks. He said the department is making arrangements to introduce anti-drone technology in Tirumala soon. He disclosed that they will bring to government's notice the need for creating a trained women contingent to meet the shortage of women police personnel.

Earlier, TTD chief vigilance and security officer Sri Narasimha Kishore and Tirupati SP Sri Parmeshwar Reddy made separate PowerPoint presentations, giving a detailed picture of the existing security set up at Tirumala and areas where security needs to be beefed up.
DIG Anantapur Range Ammi Reddy, OSD ISW Sasidhar Reddy, and officials from State Intelligence Bureau, Intelligence Security Wing, Octopus, SPF, district police, forest, fire and other forces were present.

TTD’s representatives included JEO V. Veerabrahmam and chief engineer Nageswara Rao.