Villages abutting Palar take activist’s help to prevent flood havoc

VELLORE: Residents of Kizhmonavoor village on the outskirts of Vellore will sleep easy during the ensuing monsoon. Thanks to efforts of a social activist who strengthened the banks of the Palar river on whose shore the village nestles.

G Srikanth, who was the TN Pollution Control Board green champion for 2022, was asked to help by Vellore Collector P Kumaravel Pandian as the last monsoon saw Palar in spate for many days resulting in a garbage segregation shed and a house being washed away by the rampaging river.

“We were unsure on how to deal with this issue and hence approached the Vellore Collector, who introduced us to Srikanth,” said Kizhmonavoor panchayat president Latha Palani.

The initiative resulted in Srikanth along with Pandian and Latha Palani participating in the planting of more than 2,000 saplings of various varieties on a kilometer stretch on the Palar. “Workers under the 100 days scheme are used to start the planting process with saplings provided by the Forest Department and other sources,” Srikanth said.

“Initially I requested the panchayat president to strengthen the sand bund which was done and I followed this up with the planting exercise,” he said.

Asked how the project was funded, Latha Palani told DT Next, “The local body lacks funds and I am using my own money as and when needed. I just want to do good for my people. Last year the havoc caused by the flooding in Palar scared us and hence there was all round cooperation for this project.”

Strangely enough, Srikanth was criticized by the district administration more than a year ago due to locals claiming that he was trying to usurp land on the Palar at Ulli village where he with the support of a previous Collector had raised a plantation to prevent illegal sand mining in the area.