The Hyderabad - Srisailam road passes through core area of ATR @ 60 Km.
Entry of the vehicles not allowed from 9 PM to 6 AM except during Shivaratri.
Daily on an average 800 vehicles pass through ATR / on an average 3000 persons per day and during weekends and festivals @ 3000 vehicles/day.
During Shivaratri @ 3.00 Lakh people pass through the ATR on foot to Srisailam for about one week day and night.
Charitable trusts organize Annadanam along road side in Forests during Shivaratri.
Problem of littering the forest all along the road – Food items, Plastic covers and bottles, / liquor bottles / chips & kurkure plastic covers etc.,
Feeding the monkeys.
The visitors halt at places all along the road have food / consume liquor.
Lighting of fire for cooking.
IMPACT ON FOREST & WILDLIFE
Garbage all along the route – Wildlife feeding on the same and in some cases plastic covers noticed in the scats of wild animals.
The herbivores noticed licking / eating kurkure / chip covers.
Disturbance to wildlife.
Destruction / damage of wildlife habitat.
Fire
Effect on wildlife monitoring and census.
Wild animals feeding on the leftover food items.
Change in the food habits especially of monkeys and jungle fowl.
Death of wild animals due to accidents.
Initiatives taken so far
Awareness / publicity by placing hoardings.
Construction of sit outs at (9) locations with garbage bins.
Hoarding at Mannanur showing the diagram with locations and distance of the sit outs.
The existing garbage pickers increased to (06) nos –Regular meetings with the shop keepers at Mannanur & Vatvarlapally and Supply of plastic dust bins .
One carriage Auto is under operation to collect the garbage and it is proposed to increase to (3) Nos.
A patrolling team.
Toll gate upgraded with Electronic ticketing system
initiative
PLASTIC FREE ZONE
At TOLL GATE- Rs. 50/- collected and Cloth bag given for keeping the used plastic items/ garbage- avoid throwing in TR.
TOLL FEE Rs. 30/- (including BAG COST) + Rs.20/- REFUNDABLE
Rs. 20/- refunded after handing over bag with used items at the other check post at end of TR.
Pamphlets to each vehicle along with the toll fee ticket containing instructions on Dos and Don’ts locations of the sit outs.
Sit-outs
Garbage Pickers
Garbage Bins to all shop keepers/ Fines
Do's & Don'ts in the Tiger reserve
RESULTS OF THE INITIATIVES
Awareness among the visitors on littering in TR.
Visitors started using the sit outs.
Reduction in littering and garbage along the road.
Littering by the shop keepers with tea cups / plates controlled.
The age old practice (30 years) of organizing Annadanam centres along the road in TR is stopped this year.
