TIRUPATI: BJP state spokesperson and former trust board member of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) G. Bhanu Prakash Reddy has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in Andhra Pradesh High Court, urging court to direct AP forest department and TTD to take immediate action on installing an iron fencing along the entire walkway from Alipiri to Tirumala.
The PIL comes after a couple of attacks by leopards on children walking to Tirumala from Alipiri in June and August this year. The children accompanied their parents for the darshan of Lord Venkateswara.
A three-year-old boy miraculously survived after a leopard caught him in June. Shouts by anguished parents, devotees, and TTD staff chasing it made the leopard leave the boy with minor injuries.
However, a six-year-old girl Lakshitha from Nellore was killed in another leopard attack earlier this month.
Following this, the forest department captured three leopards. Among them, the leopard captured following the attack in June has been released into the Seshachalam forest. The other two are currently in the SV Zoo Park in Tirupati.
The forest department also launched "Operation Chiruta," an effort to bolster safety measures along the Alipiri footpath route.
In his PIL, BJP leader Bhanu Prakash Reddy requested the High Court to intervene in the important issue of safety for Tirumala devotees from leopard attacks. Additionally, he has appealed to the court to issue a directive to the state government that it provide a compensation of ₹1 crore to the family of deceased Lakshitha.
