PNS n Vijayawada
TTD EO AV Dharma Reddy made a second visit to 7th Mile on the Alipiri footpath where a three-year-old boy was attacked by a leopard on Thursday night. Speaking to the media later, he said the threat to his life was averted as the attack was by a leopard calf and shouting by devotees and immediate flashlights from the Repeater station scared the wildcat which abandoned the boy and fled to the woods.
He said the Forest officials had identified the leopard track between Galigopuram and Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple on the Alipiri footpath.
It was decided to send 200 devotees together in a team after 7 pm on the footpath with security guards. The devotees were advised to chant Govinda Nama, he added.
He also appealed to the devotees to be vigilant and to keep the children in the middle of their walk on the footpath.
The TTD EO said all-out plans were made to capture the animal and camera traps were installed to track their movements. Henceforth devotees will be allowed to climb Tirumala up to 6 pm on the Srivari Mettu footpath and up to 10 pm on the Alipiri footpath. The security options for two-wheeler travelling on ghat roads after 6 in the evenings were being debated, he added.
TTD CVSO Narasimha Kishore, CCF Nageswara Rao, DFO Satish, TTD DFO Srinivas, VGO Bali Reddy and others were present.
