The Hindu : Front Page : Officials to confiscate plastic products within forest area

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Thursday, Aug 05, 2010
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Officials to confiscate plastic products within forest area

Staff Reporter

They have been instructed to impose the ban on use of non-degradable plastic

VISIT:Collector M. Jayaraman (second from left) at Sorimuthu Ayyanar Temple in Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in Tirunelveli

TIRUNELVELI: Even as the ‘Adi Amavasai' celebrations of Sorimuthu Ayyanar Temple within the Kalakkad – Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) are going on, Collector M. Jayaraman visited the temple and inspected the surroundings on Tuesday evening and instructed the officials to strictly impose the ban on use of plastic products within the forest area.

“Non-degradable plastic products being brought to the temple by devotees and traders will be seized as use of this hazardous material in any part of the district has already been banned. Those who defy the ban will attract unwanted trouble like fine,” warned Dr. Jayaraman, who asked the police and forest officials to be firm in confiscating these products at the entry point.

When forest officials informed the Collector that the blood of goats being sacrificed around the temple every year and waste meat would mix with the Tamirabharani flow near the temple, he asked them to create sand bunds at particular points to prevent the blood from entering the river.

He asked the temple administrators to spend at least 60 per cent of the revenue generated during the festival to improve the environment around the place of worship that gets degraded during the 10-day celebration.

While appealing to the devotees to conserve the environment of KMTR, Dr. Jayaramam urged the officials of Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), a Bangalore-based research organisation conducting research within the reserve for the past several years and scientifically monitoring the impact of visitors on the forest and wildlife during the ‘Adi Amavasai' festival of Sorimuthu Ayyanar Temple, to explore the possibilities of establishing temporary toilets in the area to avoid open defecation.

The Collector also assured that he would make arrangements to send a minimum of 100 sanitary workers to ensure cleanliness in the area.

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