Over 700 cattle, donated to the temple of Lord Venkateswara at Kaligiri Konda hillock near Penumuru mandal headquarters go hungry due to lack of fodder and drinking water.
The centuries-old temple receives as a gift cows and bulls from the devotees. Though coming under the Endowments department, the temple Devasthanam has no scientific method of protecting the cattle. The devotees take the cattle to the hillock and tie them to the trees there and go away, ignoring their requirement of water and fodder which has turned into a major crisis there.
The number of cattle is increasing year after year making their survival a living hell. They roam the parched hillock slopes and enter fields, only to get a beating from the farmers and to retreat to Lord's abode.
The wild grass on the hillock and in the forest is burnt every summer by some miscreants, even destroying small trees. Under these conditions, some of the emaciated cattle die miserable deaths and buried unknown by some humane shepherds. Some of them are taken away by miscreants. Some devotees want the Tirumala Tirupati Devathanams (TTD), which champions the cause of "Gosamrakshana", to intervene and put an end to the matter. A hereditary member of the temple trust, L. Dhananjayulu Naidu told The Hindu that representations were made to the district administration for water facility, fodder and sheds to the cattle, but no tangible steps were taken. Former MPs Audikesavulu Naidu and Durga Ramakrishna contributed to the construction of two Goshalas on the hillock, but they accommodate about 50 cattle. With no caretakers there, the cattle too are accustomed to roaming the hillsides.
The temple wields a rich history, with the British rulers earmarking 10 hectares of forest land for the Kaligiri temple in 1893.
The temple trustees observed that on the same date of the same year, the British had also reserved 15 hectares of land to Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirumala hills.
