0103-B3
P. Krishnaiah 1 , V. Venkatramaiah** and G.V.Ramana Reddy***
Tirumala is the holy seat of Lord Venkateswara. The Tirumala hills are considered to be the sacred hoods of Adisesha (Holy Serpent) and the body extends through Seshachalam, Erramalai and Nallamalai up to Srisailam hills. These hill ranges about a century back contained luxurious forests with hundreds of springs and water sources spread all over the area of the sacred seven hills and the nature provided a divine environment.
Historical policies of felling the trees to provide fuel-wood and timber needs to the temple as well as local people of Tirumala and Tirupati, indiscriminate destruction of the forests around Tirumala occurred and the hills were rendered barren and drab. In order to re-cloth the seven hills with lush green vegetation the Forest Department of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams has taken up Bioaesthetic Plan in the year 1980. Now the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams areas are re-clothed with luxurious vegetation except some patches, where there are sheet rocks without soil and which are not fit for any treatment in these hill ranges especially along first ghat road, while some areas not accessible to steepness of the terrain. Hardly any vegetation is noticed in these patches. As per Andhra Pradesh State Remote sensing Application Centre, Hyderabad report the barren area in the year 1998 is 1414 Ha. and in the year 2000 is 1300 Ha. These areas are not fit for any treatment.
Due to its deep commitment to the cause of maintaining clean and green environment the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams has decided to develop greenery even on these barren rocky areas to bring green cover to all the hill slopes where vegetation is sparse or absent.
Tirumala is the holy seat of Lord Venkateswara. The Tirumala hills are considered to be the sacred hoods of Adisesha (Holy Serpent) and the body extends through Seshachalam, Erramalai and Nallamalai up to Srisailam hills. These hill ranges about a century back contained luxurious forests with hundreds of springs and water sources spread all over the area of the sacred seven hills and the nature provided a divine environment.
Historical policies of felling the trees to provide fuel-wood and timber needs to the temple as well as local people of Tirumala and Tirupati, indiscriminate destruction of the forests around Tirumala occurred and the hills were rendered barren and drab. In order to re-cloth the seven hills with lush green vegetation the Forest Department of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams has taken up Bioaesthetic Plan in the year 1980. Now the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams areas are re-clothed with luxurious vegetation except some patches, where there are sheet rocks without soil and which are not fit for any treatment in these hill ranges especially along first ghat road, while some areas not accessible to steepness of the terrain. Hardly any vegetation is noticed in these patches. As per Andhra Pradesh State Remote sensing Application Centre, Hyderabad report the barren area in the year 1998 is 1414 Ha. and in the year 2000 is 1300 Ha. These areas are not fit for any treatment.
Due to its deep commitment to the cause of maintaining clean and green environment the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams has decided to develop greenery even on these barren rocky areas to bring green cover to all the hill slopes where vegetation is sparse or absent.
The forests of the Tirumala hills are classified as Southern Tropical Dry Deciduous Red sanders bearing forests by Champion and Seth (1984). The altitude varies from 600 to 900 mt. above MSL. This range of hills is characterised by intense heat and dryness during March to June. The mean maximum temperature during summer varies between 36.4°C to 42.4°C. along with high temperature, low humidity, high wind velocity, long sunshine hours and scanty and erratic precipitation with a few rainy days. The terrain is slopy with basic rock formation of gneissic granite. The soil here is derived from quartzite and sand stone.
A massive soil and moisture conservation works are being taken up on Ridge to Valley concept covering all the gullies, streams and streamlets with a view to prevent soil erosion and conserve maximum amount of rain water and improve soil moisture status and recharging the ground water table. The following works are being taken up
Stone terracing is being done along the contour and across the hill slopes to slow down the velocity of rainwater and to conserve soil. The cross section of the stone terracing is 0.45 mt. x 0.3 mt. The length varies right from 3 mt. to 10 mt. depending upon the condition of the site. The terrace constructed across the slopes is acting as a barrier and it makes the rainwater to go down with lesser speed. At the same time the washed out soil from the upper slopes gradually gets deposited at the terraces. It is observed that the soil gradually deposited at the terrace has become the source for anchorage to the new colonizers like grasses and other herbs slowly giving space to shrub vegetation. The deposited soil is analysed and it is estimated that the pH is 5, EC is 0.1 ds/mol., organic carbon is 0.6%, N is 200 Kg/Ha, P is 2.5 Kg/Ha, K is 120 Kg/Ha, Fe is 25 ppm, Zn is 1.0 ppm, Mn is 4.0 ppm and Cu is 1.1 ppm. These results are on conformity with the results that of Kusuma Kumari (1997). In the first year Stylosanthes hamata seed was sown in the deposited soil to act as soil binder and to enrich the soil. A gave suckers are planted to increase the binding capacity of the soil and to add to the humus.
After a lot of observation and study it was felt that the barren rocks also could be treated for vegetation cover by planting suitable species. Ficus species are being planted where there are crevices in the barren rock by filling the metallic drums with imported soil. The bottom of the drum is removed and filled with red soil and farmyard manure in 3:1 proportion. At some places where there are gaps in between the barren rocks 60 cm cubic pits are being dug and planted with Ficus species. Around these pits dry stone revetment of 30 - 45 cm height with 1 mt. diameter has been provided and filled with imported soil. So far 5000 plants are planted. The results are encouraging.
The survival rate of these plants for the last few months is given in Table 1.
Table 1 - Survival rate of plants (Total No. of plants planted 5000)
Month |
Survival |
Survival Percentage |
November 2001 |
5000 |
100.00 |
December 2001 |
4988 |
99.76 |
January 2001 |
4980 |
99.60 |
After two years it is observed that, vegetation has come up along the length of the terrace wall. The following species (Table 2) are noticed all along the terrace.
Table 2 - Species noticed along the stone terrace
SI. No. |
Species |
Family |
1 |
Heteropogon contortus |
Graminaeae |
2 |
Waltheria indica |
Sterculiaceae |
3 |
Indigofera mysorensis |
Fabaceae |
4 |
Stylosanthes mucronata |
Fabaceae |
5 |
Tephrosia mucronata |
Fabaceae |
6 |
Tephrosia villosa |
Fabaceae |
7 |
Rhynchosia capitata |
Fabaceae |
8 |
Hybanthus enneaspermus |
Violaceae |
9 |
Sabastiane chamaelea |
Euphorbiaceae |
10 |
Combretum ovalifolium |
Malvaceae |
11 |
Hibiscus solanandra |
Malvaceae |
12 |
Borreria stricta |
Rubiaceae |
13 |
Cyperus Species |
Cyperaceae |
14 |
Eragrostis bifaria |
Graminaeae |
15 |
Justicia glauca |
Acanthaceae |
16 |
Cassia pumila |
Caesalpinaceae |
17 |
Chloroxylon swietenia |
Graminaeae |
18 |
Phyllanthus gardnerianus |
Euphorbiaceae |
19 |
Chrysopogon zeylanica |
Graminaeae |
20 |
Eurphorbia hirta |
Euphorbiaceae |
In control areas where there are no stone terracing has been done, no vegetation has been noticed, not even grasses have come up since neither soil nor moisture is available.
Champion, H. G and S. K. Seth (1984). Revised survey of forest types of India, India Press, New Delhi.
Kusuma Kumari, T (1997). Characterisation, classification and distribution of cationic micronutrients in Tirumala hills. M.Sc., thesis submitted to ANGRAU, Hyderabad.
1 Executive Officer, TTDs, Tirupati.
** Conservator of Forests, liDs, Tirupati.
***Divisional Forest Officer, TTDs, Tirupati.