Vehicles without a FASTag will no longer be allowed to enter Tirumala, temple management says

Indian Express

a day ago

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the Sri Venkateswara temple in Andhra Pradesh's Tirupati district, said that vehicles without a FASTag will no longer be allowed to enter Tirumala.
Officials said the TTD is also considering allowing only electric vehicles entry into Tirumala in the future.
Thousands of devotees visit Tirumala every day in private vehicles and taxis.
'Many individual car owners driving up to Tirumala may not have a FASTag for various reasons. We are issuing an advisory that they should get it before coming to Tirumala. If they do not have it, they should take the help of the facility at Alipiri,' an official said.
The TTD said, 'In order to provide better safety standards, prevention of overcrowding and transparent services to the devotees arriving in various vehicles at the Alipiri check point, FASTag will be made mandatory for the vehicles entering Tirumala from August 15.'
A facility that issues FASTags have been set up at the Alipiri checkpoint in collaboration with ICICI Bank, officials said.
'It is once again informed that the vehicles without FASTag will be allowed to enter Tirumala only after obtaining the FASTag facility here in the shortest possible time. Devotees are requested to cooperate, or they will not be allowed to enter Tirumala,' the TTD said.
The announcement comes as the temple is witnessing over 90,000 devotees on some days, with the TTD finding it difficult not only to manage the pilgrims, but also the incoming traffic.
The TTD is also preparing to implement stricter pollution control rules, and allow only battery-operated vehicles into Tirumala. The TTD is encouraging taxi operators to switch to EVs. On Tuesday, a devotee from Bengaluru, Chandra Shekhar, donated two battery buggies worth Rs 11 lakh to the TTD.
The board, which has set up some EV charging stations, is in the process of setting up more, officials said.
The TTD and the Andhra Pradesh State Transport Corporation are also switching to operating only electric buses to and from Tirumala and Tirupati. In efforts to achieve net zero emissions, the TTD is also allocating its lands at Tirumala and Tirupati to organisations like the New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh for the establishment of EV charging stations and battery swapping stations.