Wild life conservationists and nature lovers have more to cheer as the Tamil Nadu government has proposed to create four new wild life sanctuaries. These new protected areas would be in addition to the existing ten in this southern Indian state.
Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa made this statement in the Assembly last week as a proposal to expand the conservation efforts. These new sanctuaries will be set up in different districts mainly surrounding those areas where wildlife was present is large numbers.
The four areas are,
- The Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary covering Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts
- The Gangaikondan Spotted Deer Wildlife Sanctuary covering Tirunelveli
- The Kodiyakkarai Wildlife Sanctuary covering Nagapattinam-Tanjavur-Tiruvarur districts
- The Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary covering Theni and Dinidgul districts
The Chief Minister also said that under the Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Conservation and Greening Project, as short-term crops, two crore tree saplings would be planted in private fallow and farm lands at an estimated Rs 97.66 crore.
The government has already prepared afforestation schemes for 2013-14 and 2014-15. A total amount of Rs 107.96 crore under the Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA) loan will be used for this purpose, she said.
The third plan of action would be to create moats with a total length of 440 kms at a cost of Rs 20 crores around forested areas. This will be to check on the frequent incidents of elephants straying into human settlements.
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Image via cc/Flickr by sheilapic76
