The chief pontiff of Visakha Sarada Peetham, Swami Swaroopanandendra, found himself embroiled in a major controversy on June 28 (Friday) when a group of swamijis, led by local Jana Sena Party (JSP) cadre, staged a protest at his mutt in Tirumala.
The protesters alleged that the peetham had violated all norms and stipulations in the construction of a new building complex behind the existing mutt, and demanded its immediate removal.
Swamy Srinivasananda alleged that though the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) had provided 5,000 sq. feet of land, the peetham occupied another 2,150 sq. feet and took up construction work on the encroached site.
‘Trees felled’
Six floors had been constructed against four usually permitted and the mandatory building setbacks compromised, he alleged. The water stream that flowed behind the controversial building site had been interred and hundreds of trees felled to facilitate the peetham take up the construction activity, he alleged.
He questioned the “hesitation on the part of TTD in bulldozing the illegal structure,” and wondered who should be held responsible in case of any untoward incident, going by the fact that a beam on the ground floor of the building had already given in, reportedly unable to withstand the pressure.
“The Hindu society will be the last to tolerate any attempts to defame the famed town,” he warned.
Swamy Srinivasananda further said the issue would be taken to the notice of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan, and the BJP leaders. Their intervention would be sought if the TTD failed to tackle the issue.
