Congress leader Chinta Mohan on August 14 (Monday) demanded that the Andhra Pradesh government shift immediately the S.V. Zoo Park in Tirupati to Vadamalapeta in Nagari Assembly constituency, saying that the move could alone stop the man-animal conflict at the Tirumala hills.
Addressing a meeting in support of the demands of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) employees at the TTD administration building, Mr. Chinta Mohan spoke about death of the 6-year-old girl in leopard attack along the Tirumala footpath recently.
He said the S.V. Zoo Park spreading over 7,000 acres at the Tirumala foothills was attracting wild animals from the reserve forests and the animals were prowling along the footpath lading to Lord Venkateswara temple, posing threats to the devotees.
“The State government and the TTD trust board should give a serious thought to shifting of the zoo to Nagari Assembly constituency,” said Mr. Chinta Mohan, suggesting that the 7,000 acres belonging to the zoo park could be used for the housing scheme for 10,000 permanent employees of the TTD.
The former MP demanded that the TTD trust board must clarify its fixed deposits as to where they were deposited and at what rate of interest. “The TTD should adopt transparency in giving information about its funds, fixed deposits worth ₹17,000 crore and several thousand tonnes of gold,” he said.
Mr. Chinta Mohan also demanded that the State government must follow the rule of reservations in providing jobs to SCs, STs and OBCs in the TTD. “As per the rule of reservation, the TTD should provide 2,700 jobs to the OBCs, 1,700 posts to SCs, and 750 to STs. The Congress would soon launch an agitation to get these genuine demands fulfilled,” he added.
