Tirumala, October 13: A three-tier security cover will be provided in and around Tirumala township in view of the terror threat to the Venkateswara temple and the Tirumala hill.
The Intelligence Bureau (IB) has alerted the state government and the TTD thrice about a possible terror strike on Tirumala which is visited by lakhs of devout Hindus every day. And, the intelligence wing of the state police echoed IB’s warning. Several committees including the Subrahmanyam Committee (Subrahmanyam was a former security advisor to the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi), another committee headed by the then chief secretary J Harinarayana and the state police top brass have recommended a foolproof and high-security system for Tirumala. After several rounds of discussions with the officials and agencies concerned, the TTD had decided to put in place the security arrangements. In line with the Subrahmanyam committee’s suggestions, a wing of the Octopus was located on Tirumala.
The second important decision was to create a three-level fencing in and around Tirumala. The first fence will be set up at the four mada streets with seven entry points which will be well-guarded by both security personnel and gadgets. The second level of fencing will come up at a radius of 2 km from the Tirumala township. The third will be set up at a radius of 9 km from Tirumala encompassing the forest areas on the hill slopes.
The plan is to restrict and regulate the movement of people and ensure that each and every person goes through the security net. Though the TTD was yet to finalise the final proposal, a private agency, Aurora Integrated Systems Limited of Bangalore, had shown interest in preparing a draft proposal on the three security rings. The TTD allowed the agency to conduct an aerial survey of Tirumala for collecting basic data. The agency, represented by ML Iyer, conducted the survey by a small aircraft. Thus landed, for the first time, an aircraft on the Tirumala hills. The company also pressed into service an unmanned and remote-controlled airborne camera to take photograhs of Tirumala.
TTD authorities maintained that they have not finalised anything in favour of the Bangalore company but only allowed them to collect basic data. Once the proposals were ready, open tenders would be called and finalised, an official told.
–Agencies