CM provides 11 special vehicles to Vandalur zoo

The anti-poaching camp office in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve is built at a cost of Rs 37 lakh and would have an office space and residential area for forest rangers. An official release said the modern forest-tree seed centre at MR Palayam in Tiruchy was built at a cost of Rs 1.05 crore by the Forest Department. 

The forest-tree seed centre would be used to store, preserve and distribute genetically superior seeds and rare seeds of endangered native plants and trees. The Centre also houses a research facility with machines to dry and separate the seeds based on their quality and type. 

The modern facility also has a cold storage, conference hall and an office space and the industries, farmers and the general public could make use of this facility to procure seeds, the release said. 

The Chief Minister also handed over the keys for 11 special vehicles to help the field workers in the Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Conservation and Greening Project and the field-research faculty of Arignar Anna Zoological Park at suburban Vandalur. 

The 11 vehicles, procured at a cost of Rs 1.10 crore, included eight jeeps, one ambulance for transporting injured animals, an employees’ bus and a caged vehicle for transporting animals. 

The Chief Minister also presented a Bobcat Tree Transplantation Machine to the State Forest Research Institute to protect the trees from being cut during the various underground infrastructure work across the city. The machine was capable of lifting fully grown trees with roots intact and replant it in another location. 

A power operated shredder and a tractor operated shredder cum pulveriser were also presented to the Forest Department, to shred dry plant parts and convert them to vermicompost. 

The Chief Minister also inaugurated three new RTO offices at Natham in Dindigul, Alangudi in Pudukkottai and Tirukazhukundram in Kancheepuram, built at a cost of Rs 1.04 crore. Palaniswami also inaugurated two Transport department check posts built at a cost of Rs 3.46 lakh at Palavakkam in Tiruvallur and Kali Kovil in Krishnagiri districts.