Ours is a Cricket crazy
country…… we adore all players from Sachin, Dhoni, Kohli to everybody else……… a
Cricketer is a star in his ownright…. People spend huge amounts of money to buy
tickets and waste their time to see matches… I am also a fan of the game…………
For a
Srivaishnavaite – thinking of Him, praising Him all the time, going to temples
of His, doing services to His bhakthas and associating oneself in any form with
various kainkaryams to the Bhagwan Shri
Maha Vishnu are the only real things.
That Sri Vaishnavaites would relish doing such things naturally come to
them. For Srivaishnavaites, visiting Divyadesams and having darshan of
Emperumans in these places are of utmost importance. To us – “Kovil – Thirumalai – Perumal Kovil”
reverberates sweetly and flows honey all the time. The word Kovil, Thirumalai, Perumal Kovil
would refer to “Sri Rangam, Thirumala Tirupathi and Kanchipuram” respectively.
Thirumala
Thirupathi Temple – the sacred and most
reverred temple of Sri Venkateswara is located on the seventh peak –
Venkatachala hill of Tirumala. The Lord
stands tall as bestower of all boons and lakhs of people reach here to have a
glimpse – a few seconds darshan of the Lord.
This beautiful temple in its present form owes a lot to the works of the
greatest Vaishnava Acharya – Sri Ramanujar.
Thirumala
Thirupathi, the name itself is divine. Thiruvengadam, the abode of Lord Balaji
would ever remain as the ‘Thilakam’ the shining glory of the whole Earth. All that we need to do is to pray towards the
Greatest Lord of Universe from wherever we are, think of HIM always and do good
to humanity in Thy Name
Not all would
have noticed the newsitem of Andhra Pradesh CM N Kirankumar Reddy laying a
foundation stone of …………. ‘International cricket stadium’ ….. coming up at the
foot of holy Tirumala Hills ~ it
has raised eyebrows on both ecological
and security angles.
Touted as a major facility
for sports enthusiasts of Rayalaseema region,
newspaper reports of The Hindu stated that a 30-acre site of Sri Venkateswara
University has been identified for the stadium on which the Andhra Cricket
Association will construct the stadium. The stadium is coming on a site where
there are around 4 lakh fully-grown trees, including the precious and endemic
red sanders. The region is a rich catchment area for water flowing down the
hills and is adjacent to the zoo. Forest officials, on condition of anonymity,
admit that it is home to several endangered and herbivorous animals, which
frequently stray on to the Alipiri-Cherlopalle bypass road. Even leopards have
strayed on to the road in the past, indicating the growing man-animal conflict.
“It is ecologically disastrous to disturb the
forest. Tirupati definitely needs an international stadium, but not at the cost
of its rich biodiversity conservation. Instead, waste and barren lands
available in the Renigunta belt can be used,” says K. Srinivasa Reddy,
president of Intellectual Forum and himself a soil scientist.
Alipiri already bustles
with one lakh pilgrims everyday and this stadium adds 30,000 more people,
causing strain on infrastructure. It may be recalled that the TTD declined
alienation of its land to its employees here, indicating that it should be used
to facilitate ‘natural expansion’ in future. “The establishment of a stadium in
the little-known Gachibowli area in Hyderabad spurred development,” Dr. Reddy
recalled. At a time when Tirumala already faces security threat, the cricket
stadium allows people to move much closer to the base of the Tirumala hills,
which is increasingly becoming porous with the construction of such structures
at the base.
Only recently there was
news of an Islamic University being promoted at Tirupathi and now comes this
stadium ……. Is there any sinister design to upset and create trouble in the
holy city, one wonders. While this has
caused deep sense of anguish and great concern, there is some solace in the
news that taking suo motu cognisance of
the news report published in The
Hindu , the National Green Tribunal, Southern Bench, here on Thursday
restrained the authorities from taking any further steps in establishing an
international cricket stadium at the foot of Tirumala Hills. The Bench
comprising judicial member Justice M. Chockalingam and expert member Prof. R.
Nagendran said, “The Tribunal feels that the proposed plan is likely to affect
the ecology and environment and also spoil the greenery of the region.
This should be stopped
immediately by way of an order of interim injunction restraining the
authorities from taking further steps in this regard.” They also pointed out
that it would be quite clear that the initial steps for executing the plan for
the stadium was commenced by laying the foundation stone on Wednesday. The
Bench also said, “If 4,00,000 fully grown trees including precious red sanders
are cut, the region which is the catchment area for water flowing down from the
hills will be affected. It will endanger the wildlife and degrade the
environment.”
The Tribunal directed the
authorities including the Secretary, Union Ministry of Environment and Forests
(MoEF) and Chief Secretary, Andhra Pradesh to appear in the next hearing with
their explanations. Posting the matter for further hearing on December 10, the
Tribunal also directed the Member Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control
Board to produce video shots of the area.
It is not the
Tribunal alone, all should be protesting….. Cricket can be developed
elsewhere,……… if the aim is to promote Sports in Rayalaseema, there are
hundreds of thousands of acres in the length and breadth of the State and the
Nation… let not people play with the holy town and footstep of Holy Thirumala
It is not Cricket for sure.
With concern – S.
Sampathkumar
22nd Nov. 2013.
News report courtesy : The Hindu
