Yes. It is so. The rich vegetation at the foothills of Tirumala is going to get cut to make it a play ground that will be surrounded by a stadium for the people to sit and watch it. And the Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy laid a foundation stone for it on Wednesday!
It is an International Cricket Stadium that is going to come up in the site in which four lakh fully grown trees are standing high unaware of the threat in store for them. The trees include valuable red sanders.
It is a catchment area with water flowing from the hills and a place to wild animals to rest. The area is spread in 30 acres and belongs to Sri Venkateswara University.
The Intellectual Forum opines that an international stadium is welcome at Tirupati but not at the cost of the forest when barren lands are available at Renigunta. It is also feared that the foothills of Tirumala which is already under security threat will only be adding to it.
-SriJa
