Friday, May 09, 2003
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Tamil Nadu
By Our Special Correspondent
In his reply to the debate on demand of grants for the Forest and Environment department, the Minister said the forest area in the State had vastly increased in the last two years and the fact was acknowledged in the latest report of the Forest Survey of India. However, the Government was making efforts at increasing the forest cover from the present 17.584 to 25 per cent of the total land area in the State. The Tamil Nadu Afforestation project with Japanese funding would continue this year as well, covering 47,500 hectares at a cost of Rs. 93.35 crores.
Ban goes
In a significant move, the Government would soon lift the ban on transport of timber cultivated on patta land in a bid to increase revenue and encourage growing of trees. The Government decided to grant Rs. 1 crores to the Arasu Rubber Corporation in Kanyakumari to enable disbursal of salary dues and for meeting the administrative expenditure. In an effort at making Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses pollution-free, vehicular emission checking equipment would be provided at all its six MTC workshops.
Barbs at Baalu
The Minister's reply was also peppered with barbs at the Union Environment Minister, T.R. Baalu, who, he claimed, was resorting to a Goebellsian campaign that the State had underutilised the Central aid for the National river water conservation programme. While the Centre provided Rs. 154.73 crores, Tamil Nadu spent an additional Rs. 18 crores, he claimed. Packing his reply with praise for the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, Mr. Vaithilingam said she was endowed with the ability of turning even `mud into gold' and that was why she had given him a ministerial berth.
CM's assurance
When G. Palanichamy (CPI) made a fervent plea for cleaning up Point Calimere in Nagapattinam district, Ms. Jayalalithaa assured him that the Government would take all steps to develop it into a tourist centre and shift prawn farms in and around the area.
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