Forest dept closes 80 shops in Papavinasam

Tirupati: In a significant development, the Forest officials closed the 80 shops located in Papavinasam dam area in Tirumala hills on Wednesday, on the ground that the shopkeepers were not paying the rent for long.

Forest Ranger Balaji said that the Forest department resorted to the closing of the shops as the shopkeepers were not paying rent to the department since 2007 despite several reminders.

He said that though the TTD constructed the shops and collected monthly rents from the shopkeepers to whom it allotted them on lease basis.

However, the TTD stopped collecting rents from shopkeepers after the Forest department wrote a letter in 2007 informing them that the area where the shops are located is under reserve forest area.

Hence, the land belongs to the Forest department.

Balaji said that shopkeepers did not bother to approach the Forest department to get its approval for continuing their businesses, duly paying the monthly rent that they were paying to TTD.

As they failed to respond, we have no other way except to close the shops as the shopkeepers were not paying the rents for long i.e. nine years, he said expressing readiness to allow the shopkeepers continue their business provided they pay the rent monthly.

Interestingly, the shops were constructed by the TTD to provide alternative livelihood to the hawkers in Tirumala as part of its measure to contain the hawker problem but it relapsed thanks to the powerful vested interests in the hill top temple town.

Meanwhile, the shopkeepers were in a fix as the TTD distanced itself from the issue as its officials also admitted that the shops were located in reserve forest area.

However, the forest and the TTD authorities have no answer on how the TTD could take up the construction of shops in a reserve forest area and why the Forest officials then remained silent.