The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Deer park to be set up in Yelagiri hills

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Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Deer park to be set up in Yelagiri hills

Special Correspondent

YELAGIRI HILLS: A children’s park-cum-deer park will be established in Yelagiri Hills at the cost of Rs.15 crore, C. Rajendran, Vellore Collector, said here on Sunday.

Delivering the valedictory address of the summer festival in Yelagiri Hills, Mr. Rajendran said that 94 acres of land have been identified for the purpose of establishing the park. The district administration has initially sent proposals to the Tourism Department for Rs. 5 crore for taking up the works in the first phase.

Check dams

The Collector said that 17 check dams are under construction in Yelagiri Hills at a cost of Rs. 3 crore to solve the drinking water problem in the hills. He said that the summer festival, which used to be held in May to coincide with the summer holidays of schools, had to be postponed to the second week of June owing to the Lok Sabha elections. From next year, the festival would be held in the second or third week of May, he said.

G. Achuthan, Jolarpet panchayat union councillor, said that sufficient land pattas have not been given to the local tribal inhabitants. He requested the district administration to conduct a fresh land survey, issue land pattas to the landless tribals and construct houses for them. He also requested the Collector to take steps for the establishment of permanent fruit stalls in Yelagiri Hills to facilitate the local tribal fruit growers to sell their produce regularly.

K. Govindasamy, president of Yelagiri village panchayat, wanted an auditorium to be built in Yelagiri Hills to conduct the annual summer festival and other public functions. Regular bus service should be operated from Ambur and Vaniyambadi to Yelagiri Hills for the benefit of tourists, he said.

R. Kribakaran, chairman, Jolarpet panchayat union appealed to the visitors to avoid using plastic to make Yelagiri Hills free from plastic.

A.V. Venkatachalam, Conservator of Forests, Vellore, A. Udayan, District Forest Officer, Tirupattur and Hanish Chhabra, Sub-Collector, Tirupattur spoke.

Prizes distributed

Kasi Viswanathan, chairman, Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission, distributed prizes to the government departments which won prizes in the multi-departmental exhibition, winners of the sports and cultural events, the dog show and the healthy baby contest. The first prize in the multi-departmental exhibition was awarded to the Horticulture Department, second prize to the Forest Department and the third prize to the Information and Public Relations Department.

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