Forest Department officials from the Coimbatore Forest Division are busy creating more water troughs in forest to quench animals’ thirst. Divisional Forest Officer, Coimbatore, M. Senthil Kumar, said that to add to the existing 22 troughs, the Division officials had planned to have 15 more.
They would create 15 troughs in all the six forest ranges before the March 31 deadline. Of the 15, motors in three troughs would be powered with solar energy and the motors would be submersible. To prevent animals from damaging the solar panels, the officials had constructed pillars measuring 15 feet in height to fix the panels.
The officials had decided to have the three solar-powered motors and the troughs at a place each in the Coimbatore Range, Mettupalayam Range and Sirumugai Range. The solar panels, submersible motors and the trough construction cost add up to Rs. 9.10 lakh each.
The Department had taken up the construction under a Chief Minister’s scheme.
They would construct the remaining 12 troughs under other schemes. For the 12, they had made varied arrangements for water – getting water from the nearest field to supply water in lorry to tapping from a nearby borewell, etc.
As for refilling the troughs, Mr. Senthil Kumar said that the field-level staff would do a daily check to refill water either daily or as and when the water level goes down.
The officials were also in the process of cleaning and refurbishing existing troughs. They were also engaged in creating fire lines to prevent the spread of forest fire. As on date, they had completed 50 per cent of the 300-km-long work.
