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If there is one place which has not been impacted much by the economic slowdown, either in hundi collections or pilgrims visiting, it is the Lord Venkateswara temple in Tirupati.
But, even for this rich and powerful diety, fortunes have temporarily taken a hit.
The Tirumala-Tirupathi Devasthanam (TTD), the temple administration, has lost crores in revenues. Pilgrims are suffering enroute to the temple in Tirumala, while those wanting a darshan are hampered because bus services are hit.
The earthly reason for all this is the 30-day agitation in the Seemandhra region of Andhra Pradesh against the formation of Telangana State. The Union Government’s decision to split Andhra Pradesh into Telangana and Seemandhra has led to a spontaneous movement from the people of coastal Andhra and Rayalseema to remain united.
In contrast, the Telangana region, which has been on the ‘boil’sporadically over the past several years with bandhs and agitations, is guarded in its reaction.
The Congress (I) decision, after “prolonged vacillation and political machinations”, to carve out Telangana is widely seen as a political move to gain mileage in the new State. But since the July 30 announcement, the State administration has been slipping into “a state of pause”, with normal life and business activity thrown out of gear in 13 districts (nine in coastal Andhra and four in Rayalseema).
Protest rallies, demonstrations and agitations in the coastal towns and villages, under local leadership across parties — Congress (I), TDP, YSR Congress etc – . have become the daily norm. There is major revolt in the Congress (I) in the region, with minor fissures surfacing in the TDP, while the YSR Congress has taken a firm stand for a united State.
The Government employees and the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) staff in the 13 districts are on strike, as are the AP NGOs in Hyderabad.
This has crippled movement of people and brought people-Government interface to a naught in the region. A.K. Khan, Managing Director of APSRTC, put the loss at Rs 10 crore a day, totalling to over Rs 300 crore so far.
There is heavy pressure on the Railways to transport people and private operators running buses from the affected regions to Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore etc have made a killing so far.
Realty, which was recovering, has been hit hard, with hardly any registration of property or sales. Home loans have dropped by 20 per cent and the daily wage earners and petty traders are bearing the brunt.
Small-scale industrial units in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Kakinada, Rajahmundry and other towns have suffered considerable losses, as the transport of material has been affected due to frequent bandhs.
However, the bigger units such as the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, the BHPV and Hindusthan Shipyard in Visakhapatnam, the two fertiliser units at Kakinada and the AP Paper Mill in Rajahmundry have functioned normally. But they too are hit by indirect losses, say the industry sources.
The education sector has taken a severe battering. The universities – Andhra University, Nagarjuna University, Sri Venkateswara University and others – in the two regions as well as Government colleges have closed down, with some students taking active part in the agitations. Tourism and hospitality is another sector that is feeling the heat. Tourists’ flows have dropped to the picturesque Araku valley in Visakhapatnam.
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