Abandoned by the government, adopted by nature. How else could one describe the Cement Corporation of India (CCI)’s ‘sick’ Adilabad unit? Here’s a 772-acre ‘site’ as we call it, put up for e-tender by the Government of India for valuation of assets and dismantling of quarters and plant structure, but to the flora and fauna around, it is simply good earth.
The CCI stopped production in 1998. Several snakes, including pythons, have slithered inside and made it their home, while leopards roam around, occasionally. Wild boars and a large species of birds are a common sight. An ecosystem has come about without the expectation, input or effort of man.
People living nearby or those who still live in the dilapidated quarters, in fact, are afraid of venturing out onto these roads once the sun sets; who knows which animal or reptile one might encounter?
Every person ‘illegally’ living in the quarters, as described by the CCI, has even come across a giant python or a leopard here at least once, and lived to tell the tale.
“In the past 25 years, everyone here has spotted several wild animals, and had sleepless nights, haunted by the sudden encounter,” R.K. Ghosh, a former employee of CCI, says.
The township is also home to a large number of peacocks, rabbits and rare birds. “We have heard several stories about wild animals in the CCI township, and never dared to enter the campus after sunset,” Sriramoju Nagarjuna, a businessman from Adilabad town, says.
“One day, while crossing the adjoining road to the township, I noticed a big snake, and have not been able to forget that,” D. Ankitha, a techie, says.
Apart from wild animals, and birds, there are thousands of trees on the campus, making it a reserve forest of sorts in the town.
