Despite the repeated appeals of the forest department officials to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) to implement the norms for protection of wildlife, particularly closure of both the ghat roads and the pedestrian routes during the night times, everything went futile since several years.

At present, the Tirumala ghat roads remain closed between 12 midnight and 3 am, while the pedestrian route with thousands of pilgrims trekking the 14-km long stretch is open round the clock. Literally, the ghat roads will be free from traffic for about two hours, with the last buses leaving the two points – Tirumala and Tirupati, being 12 midnight. This way, the ghat roads are open to traffic even till 1 am.

The forest officials proposed the closure of the ghat roads between 7 pm and 6 am on the lines of the Dornala-Srisailam-Mann-anur ghat section. Later, the proposal was amended seeking the implementation from 10 pm to 5 am.

The officials contended that heavy vehicular movement and continuous presence of human beings in the forest zone would lead to endangering of the precious wildlife. The officials maintained that during the last half a decade, the population of the panthers is also coming down drastically, apart from the number of deer. This strange predicament thrown on wildlife has led to hampering their mating and breeding conditions, leading to gross violation of the wildlife norms.

The officials also want the pedestrian routes to be closed between 10 pm and 5 pm. “If these unfavourable conditions prevail on Tirumala hills, it will have an adverse impact on the entire Seshachalam biosphere sector in the coming generations,” a senior official, who prepared a report on this phenomenon, said.

Meanwhile, some nature lovers said that they would seek the intervention of the Supreme Court and the Central agencies governing the wildlife act in this regard.