Sat Oct 19 19:20:29 UTC 2024: Published – October 20, 2024 12:50 am IST – TIRUVANNAMALAIThe Forest Department demolished the concrete road that was laid in the deep Pattaraikadu reserve forest (RF) near Jamunamarathur village atop Jawadhu Hills in Tiruvannamalai for not obtaining prior no objection certificate (NOC) from the department for the work. | Photo Credit: Special ArrangementThe Forest Department demolished the concrete road that was laid in the deep Pattaraikadu reserve forest (RF) near Jamunamarathur village atop Jawadhu Hills in Tiruvannamalai for not obtaining prior no objection certificate (NOC) from the department for the work.
This comes in the wake of Leader of Opposition and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, who has called for protest in the village by the party on October 21 (Monday) against Forest Department action to deny accessibility for tribals in the hills. Forest officials said that on behalf of the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), a private contractor has taken up the Rs 1.32 crore road laying work inside the RF under Under Mudhalvarin Grama Salaigal Membattu Thittam (MGSMT) 2022-23 after getting necessary nod from the District Collector in May 2023. “We found that the contractor did not get NOC before starting road laying work in the RF, which is a prohibited area. Based on existing forest laws, we have also fined the contractor of Rs 25,000 for trespassing into RF,” M. Prabhu, forest range officer (Jamunamarathur), told The Hindu. Forest officials said that a bitumen road has been planned between Periyavalli to Kuttakarai villages, around three kms in the hills. Of this, one kilometre of the road will be laid inside Pattaraikadu RF, which is 5,450 hectares. Around 0.42 hectares of forest land is required for the purpose. The proposed road, which has been classified as ‘right-of-way’ under Indian Forest Act 1927, will be three metres wide with paved shoulders to ensure durability of the carriageway. However, forest officials said that before getting prior nod from the Forest Department, the private contractor started the road work including cement concrete laying in the RF. Based on the alert, forest officials went to the spot and stopped the work. They also demolished concrete flooring laid as part of the work on September 16, 2024. The razed portion of the road was around 10 metres long and three metres wide in the RF. Subsequently, Yogesh Kumar Garg, District Forest Officer (DFO) inspected the RF to ascertain required forest land (0.42 hectares) comes within the limits of DFO. As per Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006, DFO can allow development work that requires up to one hectare of forest land for tribals in the RF without seeking Centre’s nod. On September 23, Mr. Garg issued an NOC for bitumen road in the RF with conditions including not to endanger wild species during the course of road work. The copy of the NOC is available with The Hindu. DRDA officials said that Periyavalli – Kuttakarai Road is a pathway for tribals in the hills to reach big towns like Polur, Chengam and Vellore for many years. The stretch connects Polur and Amirthi zoo in Vellore, a distance of around 20 kms. However, the Forest Department has allowed the lay bitumen stretch only for one kilometre in the RF to connect remote hamlets with Jamunamarathur village from where bus services are available to reach the plains.
Published – October 20, 2024 12:50 am ISTCopyright© 2024, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
Terms & conditions | Institutional SubscriberComments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.
First Piper 