Hyderabad, Aug. 9: The state police have written to the AP Forest department to remove around 20 speed breakers from the Mannanur-Dornala Road in the Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve. The speed breakers had been built to decrease incidents of animals being run over by speeding vehicles on the road leading to the Srisailam temple.

The police say that vehicles carrying VIPs have to slow down due to the speed breakers when they visit the pilgrim centre or pass through the forest. This makes them vulnerable to Maoist attacks.

Forest officials, however, are opposing this saying that it would be disastrous for the animals as other vehicles would also increase their speed.

There is already a ban on the movement of vehicles from Mannanur to Dornala on the 130-km-stretch after 9 pm but Srisailam temple authorities have asked the government to increase the time up to 11 pm.

Recently when the Union Minister for Environment, Mr Jairam Ramesh, visited the Tiger Reserve, the forest officials apprised him of the situation. Wildlife experts also recommended the closure of the Dornala-Atmakur road which passes through the forest where heavy traffic is posing a major threat to wildlife.

The Chief Wildlife Warden, Mr Hitesh Malhotra, said,