Bullet proof door for Lord Venkateswara

April 13, 2005

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Thursday April 14 2005 00:00 IST

TIRUPATI: Ever since terrorist threats have become frequent, there's a new-found

security consciousness among temple administrative boards, and the Lord

Venkateswara temple is not to be left behind. If its Agama Advisor Committee

gives the nod, the temple will soon have a state-of-the-art bullet proof

protection system at its `mahadwaram' or main entrance.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has been mulling over the idea of

installing a bullet proof door at the `mahadwaram' ever since the Intelligence

Bureau (IB) alerted it some two years ago. But the main problem it has

encountered so far is identifying a suitable supplier as no Indian firm has ever

manufactured such a system.

Though an Indian corporate giant came up with a plan, the security and vigilance

wing of the TTD was not satisfied. "What we require is an easy to operate

mechanism. The Indian company did make a presentation, which envisaged a thick

metal bullet-proof sheet operated on pulleys and weights. Though it quoted a

price of some Rs 20 lakh, the time factor was not satisfactory," a senior TTD

vigilance official told this website's newspaper.

If the temple is attacked, the bullet proof door would be lowered blocking the

main entrance. The firm claimed the bullet-proof door would take one to two

minutes to block the main entrance, which is beyond the permissible limits, the

officer said.

Meanwhile, a German company has come up with a more advanced mechanism. In the

place of a metal sheet, a transparent bullet-proof glass sheet would be used,

which could withstand bullets fired from automatic assault rifles like AK-47s

and Self Loading Rifles (SLR). It would not take more than two to three seconds

for the bullet-proof sheet to block the main entrance, thus preventing the

possible entry of the attackers into the temple. But, this comes with a hefty

price tag: Rs 1 crore. "We are in touch with the German company's Indian agent

and a decision will be taken soon," highly placed sources in the TTD said.

At the same time, the TTD administration has referred the issue of installing

the bullet-proof mechanism in the temple to Agama Advisory Committee. "We want

to ensure that the move is not in violation of the Agama guidelines, on which

the temple is being run. A couple of members favour the proposal in private. The

committee will be meeting soon to give its verdict. Subsequently, we will go

ahead with our plans," the sources said.

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