Trees along Girivalam path ‘injected with acid’
Activists Blame State Highways Dept
Shanmughasundaram.J@timesgroup.com 22.04.2018
Tiruvannamalai: At least 70 trees along the 14-km Girivalam path around Annamalai hills in Tiruvannamalai district are suspected to have been injected with acid. While several trees have been uprooted discreetly, many withered trees stand testimony to the assault on the green cover, alleged activists. The Sri Arunachaleswarar Temple is located in the foothills.
In the two-km stretch between Thiruneer Annamalai and Adi Annamalai, and from Nithyanandha Ashram-Kanchi Road several trees have dried up and are on the verge of death in a short span of time.
Collector K S Kandasamy told TOI, “I have directed highways department officials to collect samples from six withered trees along the Girivalam path for scientific analysis to find out the cause of death.” Stern action would be taken against anyone found to be destroying trees intentionally, he said.
Officials of the state highways department have been carrying out the ₹65 crore Girivalam path widening project. While activists blamed highways officials, the latter in turn accused the local shopkeepers of killing the trees that blocked the view of their establishments.
Categorically denying the allegations, a senior official in highways department said that the withered trees were found along Hill Road and that the department had nothing to do with any activity on that stretch. “We have also assured the Green Tribunal that no tree will be cut down for the road widening projects in Girivalam path. We will stick to it,” said the official.
The tribunal had earlier passed an order against felling of even a single tree for the widening of the Girivalam path. “I spotted a huge tamarind tree near Varuna Lingam withering away in January. The tree was healthy until a few weeks prior to that date. I also saw a huge tree uprooted at Adi Annamalai. A few weeks later, I saw many more trees withering and on the verge of death,” said Arun, a native of Tiruvannamalai, who works in a IT firm in Chennai.
Arun, along with a few of his friends, visited nearby areas and farmlands along the Girivalam path and found the trees were healthy. “I don’t understand why the trees along Girivalam path started to wilt in a cluster in a certain pattern. On a particular stretch of the Girivalam path, four out of 10 trees have withered since February,” he said.
S Krishnakumar, national general secretary of Youth Exnora, said they would file a case in this regard with the tribunal. “We have been collecting evidence to prove that the trees were killed intentionally by certain people,” he said.
IN COLD BLOOD
Activists Blame State Highways Dept
Shanmughasundaram.J@timesgroup.com 22.04.2018
Tiruvannamalai: At least 70 trees along the 14-km Girivalam path around Annamalai hills in Tiruvannamalai district are suspected to have been injected with acid. While several trees have been uprooted discreetly, many withered trees stand testimony to the assault on the green cover, alleged activists. The Sri Arunachaleswarar Temple is located in the foothills.
In the two-km stretch between Thiruneer Annamalai and Adi Annamalai, and from Nithyanandha Ashram-Kanchi Road several trees have dried up and are on the verge of death in a short span of time.
Collector K S Kandasamy told TOI, “I have directed highways department officials to collect samples from six withered trees along the Girivalam path for scientific analysis to find out the cause of death.” Stern action would be taken against anyone found to be destroying trees intentionally, he said.
Officials of the state highways department have been carrying out the ₹65 crore Girivalam path widening project. While activists blamed highways officials, the latter in turn accused the local shopkeepers of killing the trees that blocked the view of their establishments.
Categorically denying the allegations, a senior official in highways department said that the withered trees were found along Hill Road and that the department had nothing to do with any activity on that stretch. “We have also assured the Green Tribunal that no tree will be cut down for the road widening projects in Girivalam path. We will stick to it,” said the official.
The tribunal had earlier passed an order against felling of even a single tree for the widening of the Girivalam path. “I spotted a huge tamarind tree near Varuna Lingam withering away in January. The tree was healthy until a few weeks prior to that date. I also saw a huge tree uprooted at Adi Annamalai. A few weeks later, I saw many more trees withering and on the verge of death,” said Arun, a native of Tiruvannamalai, who works in a IT firm in Chennai.
Arun, along with a few of his friends, visited nearby areas and farmlands along the Girivalam path and found the trees were healthy. “I don’t understand why the trees along Girivalam path started to wilt in a cluster in a certain pattern. On a particular stretch of the Girivalam path, four out of 10 trees have withered since February,” he said.
S Krishnakumar, national general secretary of Youth Exnora, said they would file a case in this regard with the tribunal. “We have been collecting evidence to prove that the trees were killed intentionally by certain people,” he said.
IN COLD BLOOD
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