Confederation of Indian Industry, Coimbatore Zone, will take up eco-restoration project at Marudhamalai.
Outgoing chairperson of the CII - Coimbatore Nethra Kumar told reporters here on Saturday that a detailed study has been done and talks are on with the local panchayat, the HR & CE Department, Forest Department, and the temple Devasthanam. “We will get it (the project) going this year,” she said.
It will be a plastic-free zone, toilets will be constructed, dust bins placed at several places, the right type of trees will be identified and planted, the existing garbage will be cleared, and the tribal people, shop keepers and the pilgrims will be educated. The entire ghat road will be fenced on either side.
A detailed analysis has been done and the entire project is expected to be little more than ₹ 50 lakh. This will be taken up as a corporate social responsibility project of the corporates here. The CII will involve ‘Hand-in-Hand”, an organisation that is working on Green Rameshwaram.
The devasthanam and the HR & CE Department have agreed and the local body should give some approvals. The shopkeepers and tribal people are also willing to support the initiative, she said.
Volunteers had cleared the garbage dumped on one side of the hill. But, it gets piled up again. The effort is to make it a sustainable project.
On the focus areas of the CII and the projects taken up in the last one year, Ms. Kumar explained the rail and air connectivity problems faced by the city . The CII will take up the demand for a night train to Bengaluru with the Railway Minister next week and the CII members will also try to meet the Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation on the need for an international airliner to operate out of Coimbatore to Dubai, she added.
