As pilgrim footfalls plummet, TTD revenues take a big hit
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The temple of Lord Venkateswara has been registering skinny crowds because the second week of April.
The pilgrim turnout, which was about 50,000 a day until the primary half of April, plummeted to a little over 20,000 later following the suspension of ‘Sarvadarshanam’ from April 12 to curb the unfold of the second wave of COVID-19.
As per statistics, the temple had registered footfalls exceeding 20,000 solely on 5 days within the final fortnight. On the remaining days, the pilgrim rush stood properly under that mark. The footfalls fell drastically to 9,640 on April 29 and 6,431 on April 30.
Slash in tickets
Slashing the darshan tokens from 30,000 to fifteen,000 a day within the final week of March and suspending them thereafter are mentioned to be the explanations for the decline within the pilgrim footfalls.
The low turnout has instantly impacted the proceeds derived from the temple ‘hundi’, which is the principle supply of earnings for the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).
The ‘hundi’ earnings, which steadily elevated to about ₹85 crore a month within the aftermath of the five-phased Unlock course of introduced by the Central authorities, took a plunge and stood at round ₹2 crore a day because the second week of April.
As per statistics, the ‘hundi’ earnings had not exceeded the ₹2 crore-mark for about 11 days within the final fortnight. In truth, the earnings did not cross even ₹1 crore on three days. The earnings netted was an all-time low of ₹62 lakh on April 29.
While issues stood such, the TTD introduced down the issuance of the ₹300 particular entry on-line darshan tickets from 30,000 to fifteen,000 a day from Saturday amid fears of the second wave of the pandemic.
Surprisingly, the darshan tickets, that are typically offered out inside a couple of days of their launch, are nonetheless obtainable in ample quantity on many of the days in the course of the present month.
Officials, on situation of anonymity, expressed concern over the steep surge within the COVID-19 constructive instances throughout the nation, and feared that the monetary place of the establishment, which was limping again to regular, will once more flip precarious if the scenario worsens additional.
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