The Tamil Nadu government decides to revive its forest cover
THE government of Tamil Nadu is about
to launch a massive afforestation drive
called the Tamil Nadu Afforestation
Project (TAP) which will be funded by
the Overseas Economic Co-operation
Fund of Japan. The quantum of assistance is to the tune of Rs 424 crore, a
soft loan provided at an interest of 2.1 per cent. Of an outlay of Rs 499 crore,
the balance will be provided by the state
government. This drive has been
planned in the wake of the fact that in
the last 50 years, nearly 1.3 million ha of
valuable forest cover has been lost in
Tamil Nadu.
TAP, spread over five years, will commence from 1997-98 and finish by AD
2001 to 2002. It will involve a massive
tree planting effort that would encompass an area of nearly 405,476 ha. In
addition, an extent of 1,500 km would
be taken up for canal bank plantations
and coastal shelter-belt plantations.
There are nearly 3,000 abutting villages
in the reserve forests in Tamil Nadu.
Out of this, about 200 villages would be
taken up in each of the five years, taking
the total number of beneficiary villages
to 1,000.
Presently, Tamil Nadu has an estimated forest cover area of around 2.1
million ha. Not only are the forests in
various stages of degradation, but the
biotic pressure being exerted upon them
is also quite high. As a result of a complex interplay of factors, things have
been steadily deteriorating over the
years. 'The loss and the progressive
degradation of the remaining forests
have severely threatened the ecological
integrity of several catchment areas and
watersheds causing the hydrological
fallout to be devastating.
The biological upgradation and eco-restoration of forests and other lands
would be done through the joint forest
management involving the state forest
department and village communities.
The village communities would participate through the institution of village
forest committees. The project document claims that the basic thrust of this
whole effort will be on people's participation.
Statistics say that nearly 25,000 ha of
forests get degraded annually on account
of over-grazing, over- exploitation of fuel
wood, timber and other non-timber
products. As a result, several rivers have
run dry and many now have only seasonal flows. The excess drawing of
groundwater for various domestic, agricultural industrial and other demands
have also worsened the situation.
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