The intention of both the State Government and TTD is to make the footpath routes to Tirumala safe zones for pedestrian pilgrims and at the same time protecting the interest of wildlife, said Wildlife Chief Warden of Andhra Pradesh, Y Madhusudhan Reddy.

Speaking to media persons at Annamaiah Bhavan in Tirumala on Tuesday, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests [WL] said, he had discussed in length with the TTD EO A V Dharma Reddy about the short term and long-term plans to overcome the Human-Animal conflict in the Tirumala footpath routes and ghat roads.

Elaborating further he said, after the leopard attack on Lakshita, a six-year-old girl, both the forest and TTD have spruced up the measures along the footpath routes and especially in the Alipiri Footpath route in a big way.

“We have placed 20 hi-fi real time cameras and another 300 camera traps all along the Seventh mile and Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple and caught hold of five leopards and shifted them to SV Zoo Park. Also procuring 500 nos. advanced sim based real time camera traps. Due to several food establishments along the Alipiri footpath route, the animals like deer, wild pigs, dogs are coming for these food wastes which are in turn prompting the wild cats and other beasts like sloth bear. So restrictions were imposed on eateries. Joint measures like sending the pilgrims in a troupe of 100 with security guards, allowing children to walk along footpath only upto 2pm, movement of two wheelers along ghat roads from 6am to 6pm will continue till the things turn to normalcy”, he added.

The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests also said, as a long-term measure “Elevated Walkways” have been suggested. The Seshachala Ranges are a treasure house of flora and fauna and rich scenic beauty. These walkways not only enable the pedestrian walkers to experience the natural beauties but also provide free passage to wildlife without obstructing their natural movements”, he further added.

Chief Conservator of Forests Nageswara Rao, Deputy CF of TTD Srinivasulu were also present.

The state government had constituted a TTD board with 24 members on Friday night. The government named three MLAs, Ponnada Venkata Sateesh, Samineni Udaya Bhanu and M Tippe Swamy as the TTD members.

The chief minister had named P Sarat Chandra Reddy as one of the members in the Trust Board. He is an accused in the Delhi liquor scam. Another important appointment was that of Siddha Sudheer Kumar, son of former TDP minister Sidda Raghava Rao from Prakasam district.

The TDP had taken strong exception to the nomination of Sarat Chandra Reddy. TDP AP unit president K Atchennaidu said that Jagan Mohan Reddy had appointed a Christian as the TTD chairman and a criminal as the trust board member. He alleged that Jagan had lowered the image of the TTD by nominating these members.

BJP state unit president Daggubati Purandheswari alleged that the government had used the TTD as a political rehabilitation centre. She found fault with the chief minister for appointing Sarat Chandra Reddy and Ketan Desai as accused in liquor and MCI scams respectively.

She also alleged that rehabilitating his own caste men had become more important to Jagan Mohan Reddy than protecting the religious interests of the temple and its trust board. She blamed the chief minister for using the trust board to accommodate his own men.

With a series of holidays set to begin from August 11 to 15, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) authorities are anticipating a heavy influx of pilgrims to the hilltop shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala.

The TTD has appealed to pilgrims to co-operate with the TTD and plan their darshan, and accommodation well in advance.

Though the summer rush is receded, the weekend rush coupled with festive holidays expected to continue till August 19, authorities stated on Tuesday.

In addition, the auspicious month of Peratasi is also commencing from September 18 onwards and will last till October 17.

In view of this, the TTD has appealed to senior citizens, differently-abled, those with chronic diseases, parents with infants to plan their Tirumala pilgrimage after Peratasi month to avoid any sort of inconvenience.

The pilgrims will be allowed for darshan only in their specified time slots. Pilgrims have to come with preparedness and patience to wait for long hours in the compartments and in queue lines till their turn for Darshan.

The Tirumala temple of Lord Venkateswara, in Andhra Pradesh, is reputed to be the richest Hindu temple in the world and attracts thousands of devotees every day.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday directed 16 members of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), whose appointment was challenged through a PIL, to file counter affidavits.

The court was informed by counsel of the petitioner that 16 out of 18 members against whom the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed have not yet submitted their affidavits.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra took serious note of this and directed the respondents to file the affidavits by March 11.

BJP leader and former TTD board member, G. Bhanu Prakash Reddy has filed the PIL challenging the appointment of 18 board members and special invitees to the TTD. The petitioner challenged the appointments on the grounds of lack of morality as they were having pending criminal cases against them.

Last month, the court had asked counsel of the petitioner to publish notices to respondents in two newspapers stating that a PIL has been filed against their appointment as board members and they are required to file affidavits to contest the allegations.

The direction came after it was brought to the court’s notice that some members have refused to accept the notice.

The petitioner alleged that 14 of the TTD members have criminal background while appointment of four others was purely political in nature.

A total of 24 persons nominated as members of the TTD Trust Board through a Government Order dated September 15, 2021. The same day, two more GOs were issued nominating 52 persons as special invitees to the TTD Trust Board.

The same month, the High Court stayed the GOs appointing special invitees. The BJP leader, who filed the PIL against all three GOs, contended that the government had scant regard to their personal details and questioned whether they had faith in the Hindu customs and traditions followed in the world-famous temple.

The TTD manages the affairs of Sri Venkateswara temple atop Tirumala which has annual revenues of about Rs 3,000 crore.

Opposition TDP and BJP have slammed Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government for constituting 81-member Trust including the Chairman and special invitees.

Last month, the state cabinet approved an ordinance to amend the Endowments Act 1987 to allow the appointments of special invitees to TTD.

During the hearing on Tuesday, the petitioner’s counsel questioned the need for issuing an ordinance. The court suggested the petitioner file a petition challenging the ordinance.