Reflecting its intention to protect animals and the environment, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, made public its decision to protect and promote Indian or “desi” variety of cow breeds and also introduce electric vehicles.
Announcing a slew of major decisions, K.S. Jawahar Reddy, the TTD Chairman and Executive Officer on August 6, said with the aim to protect and promote Indian cow breeds, TTD will introduce a new ‘Navaneetha Seva.”
Sharing the details with the media following a meeting of TTD Specified Authority in Tirumala along with the Additional EO and Convenor Dharma Reddy, the Chairman said on the issue of saving cows, three vital tasks were deliberated upon. These were protection and promotion of desi breeds, go adharitha (cow based) Naivedyam for Lord Venkateswara Srivaru and the promotion of organic farming using cow products (Panchagavya).
The Naivedyam preparation requires 30 kilograms of ghee made from cow’s milk daily and for this is needed 1,200 litres of milk. A decision was taken to have seven indigenous breeds of cows besides three local breeds for production of milk. A total of 300 cows, all indigenous breeds, will be kept in Tirumla for this purpose.
In fact, the temple had earlier received 25 Gir cows as donation.
The EO told the Press: “We have also held talks with Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University in Tirupati to sign a pact on embryo transfer technology to promote indigenous cow breeds, feed mixing and other related matters.”
He added that from August 15 organic agarbattis (incense sticks) will be sold at TTD. Also a plan is being examined to buy Bengal gram required for making the ladoos prasadam from Rayalaseema region with the aim of encouraging farmers to take up organic farming with cow products.
In its efforts to protect the environment and keep the environs of TTD pollution free, electric vehicles will be introduced in a phased manner to replace those run by petrol and diesel. The EO said: “To start with, 35 battery-operated cars will be procured through public sector Energy Efficiency Service Limited (EESL) on a trial basis.”
Keeping in mind the security concerns in Tirumala, it was decided to procure surveillance cameras and X-ray baggage scanners.
