Rotary District 3233 along with Rotary Club of Chennai Noble Hearts organised a divine trip to Tirupati by Special Train taking 1008 Special Children on August 5. Inauguration event was held at 6.30am and the special train is flagged off at 6.50am on the 11th platform of Dr.MGR Chennai Central Railway Station.  Chief Guest Minister (Minister of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department) P.K. Sekar Babu, Guest of Honour – Rotary International Director Rtn. Anirudha Roy Chowdhury, Guest of Honour – B. Vishwanath Eerya IRSE, DRM Chennai Division, Southern Railway.
Rotary District 3233 – District Governor Rtn.Mahaveer Bothra in his statement said the “The special train which is exclusively chartered for Rotary District 3233 taking 1008 special children along with another 500 attenders from respective children homes by train departs from Chennai Central reaches Renigunta near Triupati. About 38 special buses run by APSRTC are to commute the children from Renigunta to Thirumala along with 2 ambulance & team of doctors from Apollo hospitals will accompany all through the journey. This is the first time in the history of Rotary International District 3233 to host a project involving 1008 special children on a train journey and also enabling Dharshanam of Lord Balaji. He thanked the TTD, Southern Railway and Govt. of Tamilnadu & Andhra Pradesh officials for their whole-hearted cooperation & assistance in making this possible. Approximate cost of the project is about 65 Lakhs and fully donated by members of Rotary community.”
Rtn.M.Pankaj Kankaria, Project Chairman said “Special darshan arranged at 12.30pm in association with “Local Advisory Committee of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD)” for quicker & exclusive darshanam of Lord Sri Balaji for the special children. The same day they will return back to Chennai around 9.30pm in the same way buses & special chartered train.
All necessary arrangements such as ample drinking water, breakfast, lunch and dinner are arranged for the entire journey.”
Rotary International Director Rtn.Anirudha Roay Chowdhury said in his statement – “I have come all the way from Kolkata to witness this event. It has been inspiring to see a project of this scale is organised by Rotary District 3233 and it is truly felt magical. I applaud the effort of Rotary District Governor Rtn.Mahaveer Bothra and his team for organising it very meticulously.
I wondered in spite of heavy & non stop rains since last evening, the buses carrying children reached Chennai Central station by 6am and volunteers made them sit in their respective coaches within 30mins. I also thank the Southern Railway – Chennai Division for their best coordination and on-time departure of train and wish the children to get the blessing of Tirupati Lord Venkateswara.”