The police have reimposed the time limit for vehicles on the Tirumala ghat roads.
Accordingly, 28 minutes has been fixed for the vehicles to reach the sacred town and 40 minutes for those motoring down to Tirupati.
Violation of the time limit is bound to attract penalty, and the vehicle will be temporarily barred from plying on the ghat roads.
Briefing the media on June 1 (Thursday), Additional SP Muniramaiah said that pilgrims visiting the town from far-off places should verify the Fitness Certificate (FC) of the vehicles ahead of embarking on their pilgrimage and prefer only qualified drivers having experience in driving on the ghat road.
Special teams with road transport, police and TTD vigilance personnel would be constituted to prevent accidents, he said.
In an awareness programme organised on the day, Mr. Muniramaiah said that the local cab drivers were also asked to avoid overspeeding, overloading and overtaking on the ghat roads. Drivers with no experience in driving on the the ghat road are causing accidents, he said.
Pre-paid taxi kiosks
The police were also toying with the proposal of setting up pre-paid taxi kiosks at various vantage points in the temple town as well as at Tirupati and Renigunta railway station.
“It is not immediately known as to which department (tourism or transport) will be entrusted with the responsibility, but the proposal is already gaining shape,” he said.
Allaying the fears of the local cab drivers, he said no decision had been taken whether or not to allow vehicles that crossed 15 years of life to ply on the ghat roads.
