Due to the heavy rains in Tamil Nadu & Andhra Pradesh in the months of November & December, there were many unverified news about the damages happened throughout our padayatra route & in Tirumala Hills, specifically in the regions of Nagalapuram river, Appalayagunta River, Kayambedu Lake etc.
Based on the official news released by the TTD we were able to ascertain about the situation at Tirumala, Darshan schedule, Ghat Road & Footpath status but there were lot of speculations about the condition roads to Tirumala from Chennai, in Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh.
Since our travel dates were nearing, we thought we will do a scouting trip along our padayatra route up to Bramanapattu village and see if the roads are fit to travel and navigable.
The date was 04 Saturday, December 2021. We planned to start by 8:00 AM but it was nearing 10.00 AM when we started from Ambattur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Below are some of the pictures taken during the trip...
Janapan Chattiram Junction (Karanodai - Periyapalayam - Ponneri Junction)
RS Bhavan, Janapan Chattiram Junction
Vels Medical College (A New Medical College), Kannigaiper
Our proposed Lunch Point for Day 1, 'Sri Govindavanam Trust Marriage Choultry'
This is the only place where we saw water running on the road. This is some 3 KM before Periyapalayam
Periyapalayam Bridge & Temple view
Our proposed Night Halt place on day 1, 'Jessy Mahal', Latchivakkam Village
Suruttapalli Temple next to Tamil Nadu Border near Uthukottai
River behind the Suruttapalli Temple
Right side of the River Bridge between Nagalapuram & Pitchatur
Left side of the River Bridge between Nagalapuram & Pitchatur
From Taduku towards Appalayagunta Temple
A small rivulet with some water running. The water flow looks lesser than last year same time when we had our padayatra.
Towards Appalayagunta - few more pics
Glimpse of River enroute to Appalayagunta River. This point is just 2 km before the Appalayagunta Temple, very next to our last year Lunch Point.
There were lot of unconfirmed news that Appalayagunta became inaccessible due to heavy flash flood in this river & the village got isolated from rest of the places.
We can see some damages happened & traces of some severe flooding occurred in this point but the water flow is comparatively lesser than last year scouting trip.
Below are few pics from last year Scouting Trip (28 Nov 2020), at the same point.
Ok, Presently, we can see some damage - part of he road got caved-in on the left side.
A video clip recorded on the site...
Now, Towards Appalayagunta
Near Temple, side entrance...
Lake opposite to the Temple Road, we saw the water is full as usual for this season but nothing like overflowing or flooding.
In the far distance, you can see a Wedding Choultry - 'Sri Vaibhava Lakshmi Marriage Hall', which is our proposed lunch point this time. It is on the opposite lane to the North of the Temple.
The river near the Appalayagunta Temple...
Towards Bramanapattu
The Entrance Arch to Appalayagunta when approaching from Pudi or Bramanapattu is visible at far.
We checked with the local villagers about the path opposite to the arch (adjacent to the hill) whether it is accessible to reach Bramanapattu Village (which is our usual route through a 'stream crossing' and farm fields) but they said currently there is a strong flow of water near the crossing but the water level will recede in a few days and by then it will be navigable.
So trusting them and looking at the receded water levels in the other places, we believe it will be navigable by the time we come there in 15 days.
From the Arch, we took a detour by choosing the left side road towards Pudi station and from there to the Bramanapattu passing Kayampedu Village & Kayampedu Bund Road. This is the route which we used to travel earlier (before including Appalayagunta in our itinerary), instead of Appalayagunta route.
Here too, in this route, there were unconfirmed news that the Kayampedu Lake Bund got broken & the bund roads got washed away leaving no access to Kayampedu and Bramanpattu through Pudi route
But when we reached there, we found the road is perfectly alright & we crossed it without any trouble.
Below Pic shows the Kayampedu Village Water Tank on the Lake Bund.
Finally we reached the Bramanapattu Village.
So there are no issues in our padayatra route for now and it is completely navigable and safe to travel.
And while returning back, we took the Bramanapattu - Pudi Level Crossing - Vadamalapet - Puttur Route.
Below are some pics from that route. Those who are participating in this padayatra for more than 5 or 6 years (before taking Appalayagunta Route) will remember these places and they can see how much it as changed now.
Vadamalapet Railway Bridge
Vadamalapet Village main road
A Factory Compound Wall, just before the entering the Vadamalapet Village.
From this Railway causeway point Vadamalapet Village is 1 km.
*****
Down Memory Lane - In our early years of padayatra, we cover this stretch of route around 4:00 AM, starting from Puttur by 1:30 AM and reaching Vadamalapet by 4:00 AM. So during that time we didn't have much landmarks to know how far we are & hence when we reach this causeway we know we are near our next pitstop. There used to be completely nothing between Puttur & Vadamalapet during that time.
*****
The causeway is with water now.
By-Pass road to Renigunta merging before Toll Plaza
Toll Plaza ahead...
Few more pics between Vadamalpet and Taduku
From Taduku, it is the usual route - through Puttur - Narayanavanam - Pitchatur - Nagalapuram - Uthukottai - Periyapalayam - Karanodai - Chennai.
And finally we reached the Karanodai Bridge, with water touching both banks of Kosasthalai River. Surprisingly this time we saw more water in roads and rivers in Tamilnadu than in Andhra Pradesh.
With that we completed our second scouting trip this year - this time to verify and make sure the routes are safe to travel and the verdict is - there are no issues in our padayatra route for now and it is completely navigable and safe to travel.
Thank you All.
Wishing all a safe and comfortable Padayatra 2021.
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