Tourism Department plans to develop Sirumalai hill near Dindigul in a big way.
It has drawn up a plan to establish a a big botanical garden sprawling over 10 acres on the lines of Bryant Park in Kodaikanal. It will have all native species. A 35 acre land under the control of Sericulture Department has been identified for developing facilities for tourists.
The garden will also have a tourism information centre and play equipment for children. While 10 acres will be utilised for developing the garden, the rest of areas would be utilised by the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation to build a hotel. The TANGEDCO has sought a portion of the land within the proposed garden campus to establish a substation to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the park and areas around it.
Collector T.G Vinay, along with revenue and tourism officials, inspected the proposed site near Pazhaiyur on Friday.
Revenue officials and Tourism Officer T. Uma Devi said the Sericulture campus was ideal because it had a vast stretch of levelfield.
Moreover, the existing buildings could be renovated and utilised for establishing the office. The entire campus which was covered by weeds and thorny plants should be cleaned to create a park.
Later, the Collector inspected Government Horticulture Farm, spread over 400 acres on Sirumalai hill. There were vermi-compost yards with coffee, betal nut, lemon and pepper crops at the farm. It also produces saplings for distribution.
Later, Dr. Vinay distributed ration cards and community certificates to seven tribal people.
While 10 acres will be utilised for garden, the rest of the area will be utilised by TTDC to build a hotel
