Telugu Ganga water pipeline shifting project gains momentum

Tirupati: Tirupati Urban Development Authority (TUDA) has decided to shift the drinking water pipeline, which is considered vital for the expansion of the temple city. The Telugu Ganga drinking water pipeline, measuring 2.9 km in length and 150 ft in width, passes underneath the ground from Mangalam abutting Tirumala hills up to Renigunta Road and further to Daminedu abutting the Chennai highway. As the decades-old pipeline was laid in a zigzag manner, the same had to be shifted to enable laying of a road to ensure planned development of the city. The TTD also allotted Rs 19.5 crore for the road project during 2019, but the pipeline shifting continued to remain a bottleneck. TUDA chairman C Divakar Reddy, who recently took up discussion on the issue, offered to meet the Rs 3 crore required for shifting the pipeline from TUDA's funds."It is not known why the pipeline project remained pending for a long time. Now that the pipeline is all set to be shifted, the laying of the major road connecting Karakambadi Road and Renigunta Road will be launched soon," he said after participating in the Bhumi Puja along with MLAs Pulivarthi Nani (Chandragiri) and Arani Srinivasulu (Tirupati).