Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

New Secretariat site being cleared of bushes

By K. Ramachandran and P. Oppili

By K. Ramachandran and

P. Oppili

CHENNAI Oct. 13 . Preliminary activities including clearing of bushes have started at the Kotturpuram site in south Chennai, where the Government proposes to build its new Secretariat.

On Monday, an earthmover cleared the bushes on the land abutting the Government Data Centre, even as some workers were burning the dried remains of the undergrowth. This and some additional land from the Anna University are being taken over for the 1.2-million sq. ft. multistoreyed complex.

The formal work might begin with a ground-breaking ceremony in the last week of this month, as per present indications.

Meanwhile, University sources say a team of officials including some architects had a look at the present hostel building on the northern end of the campus, as also at a site within the Highways Research station (HRS) opposite the Raj Bhavan. The hostel is likely to be shifted to the HRS and the architects wanted to see the new site before deciding on a design of the elevation for the proposed building.

Wildlife officials

in a spot

Meanwhile, increased human activity in the open area at Kotturpuram has put wildlife officials in a piquant situation, as "they have a bounden duty to protect" the spotted deer, a species categorised under Schedule III of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The Act clearly says the ``habitat would include land, water or vegetation, which is the natural home of any wild animal.''

Spotted deer, local residents note, are found in large numbers inside the Anna University and surrounding green spaces in the Kotturpuram and Nandanam areas, feeding on leftovers from residential colonies, besides in the Guindy National Park and on the IIT campus.

A Forest Department survey, held two years ago, showed the presence of about 500 free-ranging spotted deer in and around the educational and research institutions at Guindy and Kotturpuram.

Those who regularly visit the campus say that before the clearance work began, 50-60 deer roamed in the open area feeding on the wild growth.

The question now is whether these animals can be translocated to some other habitat. But experts say it can be a difficult task considering that the spotted deer are "hyper-sensitive animals, which will die even at the slightest threat." A few years ago, when wildlife authorities organised a drive to flush out the deer population from the Air Force Station at Tambaram to the Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Vandalur, the officials put up a narrow corridor using 10-foot high chain link fence. The animals were driven along the corridor. But many animals scaled the fence and escaped.

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