Andhra Pradesh’s move to get a no-fly zone established over the famous Venkateswara temple in Tirupati has hit a roadblock in the initial stage itself. The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is said to have turned down the state government’s proposal for a no-fly zone.
Tirupati temple, located at Tirumala Hills in Chittoor district in Rayalaseema region of the state, is the richest temple and one of the the most visited pilgrimage centres in the entire world. The temple has more than 50,000 daily visitors and an average of 19 million visitors a year, which is more than the number of visitors to the Vatican City.
DGCA has reportedly said it is not feasible to establish no-fly zones over pilgrim places. State chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy had submitted the proposal to the civil aviation ministry last month. The report has said that nothing can be above the abode of Lord Venkateswara.
“I’m not aware of the DGCA’s rejection of the proposal,” said L V Subrahmanyam, Indian administrative service officer and outgoing executive officer cum member secretary of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), the temple administration board. The proposal stemmed from religious sentiment that even dropping of birds flying over the temple might violate the sanctity of the temple.
But more than the religious sentiments, the real reason seem to be fears about security of the temple in case of possible terrorist attack. TTD had put the matter before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs headed by Venkaiah Naidu, leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which visited the temple in November last year. The committee has been visiting several important places in the country, including Tirumala, the space research centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore district and the nuclear power station at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu to study the existing security mechanism. TTD had pointed out that any attack would lead to high number of casualties.
After the visit to Tirumala, Venkaiah Naidu in a press conference at Tirupati had said that the committee would recommend the state government to send a proposal to the centre for establishing a no-fly zone over the temple.
“We’ have routed the proposal through the right channel,” said Subrahmanyam while speaking to Down To Earth. First, the Airport Authority of India, from there to Civil Aviation Ministry, then to the home ministry and finally the proposal will go to the prime minister. It’s one of the most sought-after pilgrimage centre and the devotees’ sentiments have to be considered, he said.
Chief minister Reddy is said to be keen on pursuing the proposal. As per media reports, the defence authorities have told the state government they have no objection to declaring Tirumala as a no-fly zone as Tirumala lies outside the local flying areas of the Air Force.