The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Salem News : Green drive along the Cauvery

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Sunday, Oct 10, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Salem

Green drive along the Cauvery

By Our Special Correspondent

SALEM, OCT. 9 . To restore the tree cover along the banks of the Cauvery, the Forest Department has undertaken the massive exercise of planting 30-lakh teak saplings, the State Minister for Forests and Environment, R. Vaidyalingam, has said.

Participating at the concluding day function of the State-level Wildlife Week celebrations here on Friday, the Minister said that the department was planting the saplings along the Cauvery banks at Rs. 25 crores. The planting exercise would take five years for completion. The value of each full-grown tree would be about Rs. 20,000 and 20 years from now, the Government could boast of teak wealth worth a staggering Rs. 6,000 crores, he said.

Tree felling

Reacting to complaints that indiscriminate tree felling was going on in the forests and the hills of the State, particularly in Shevaroys Hills, the Minister said that the State had been taking up a series of projects to preserve its forests from poachers and anti-socials. "Of the total forest cover of 22,870 square kilometres, the State has brought 13.7 per cent of forests under five national parks, 8 wildlife sanctuaries and 12 birds sanctuaries primarily to preserve flora and fauna of forests in the State," he said.

To strengthen the biosphere in the Western Ghats, the State would declare Agasthiar Hills as biosphere zone shortly. These measures, he said would save animals and other living organisms in the forests from poachers and subsequently extinction. The Minister claimed that while the population of tigers and elephants were on the decline world over, they had registered sharp increases in Tamil Nadu. Steps were being taken to preserve sea life in Gulf of Mannar at Rs. 123.94 crores in association with Global Environment Facility, he added.

Water for animals

To provide drinking water to the animals, particularly elephants, a sum of Rs. 76.10 lakhs was spent to establish mini checkdams, borewells and water tanks in forests in the divisions of Hosur, Dharmapuri, Coimbatore, Pollachi, Erode and Sathyamangalam.

Pointing out that bauxite mining at Kolli Hills in Namakkal district was being carried out on patta lands and not on forests lands, the Minister said that he would however study the mining's impact on the hill environment. Later talking to newsmen briefly, he said he had ordered an inquiry into the illicit transit of trees from Shevaroys Hills. Detailing various measures for the preservation of forests in the district, the Collector, A. Sukumaran, said that the district forests could boast of 10,800 spotted deer, 260 Indian Gaurs, 210 bears, 16,000 wild boars, 40,000 monkeys and 25,000 rabbits.

Minister for Social Welfare, Vijayalakshmi Palanichamy, presided over the function. Salem I MLA, Se. Venkatachalam, charged that tree felling in Shevaroys Hills was going on indiscriminately and urged action against those who indulged in such activities. Those who spoke included the Mayor, R. Sureshkumar and forest conservationist, M. S. Mayilvaganan.

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Green drive along the Cauvery