Forest Minister Dindigul C. Sreenivasan inaugurated a park full of medicinal plants around Vaiyapuri tank in Palani on Thursday. The park which has a total of 78 varieties of medicinal plants was specifically inaugurated to serve pilgrims who come to Palani temple, he said.
The medicinal tree park was a move by the Tamil Nadu government to increase green cover in barren lands, the Minister said. “We have been taking initiatives to ensure that the State breathes cleaner air by planting more saplings. For late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa’s birth anniversary, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, inaugurated planting of 72 lakh saplings which will be completed by the end of the year. This is one more initiative by the government," he said.
The park spreading over an area of 0.4 hectares was formed after the announcement for this initiative was made in the Assembly in 2017 for a total of ₹30 lakh. By then, officials from the Forest Department had raised and planted a number of trees around the tank and on its bund.
Subsequently, they created a walking pathway for the public and created toilet facilities too.
The Minister said that the main aim of the project was to raise awareness about Siddha and Ayurveda system of medicines among the public.
“Palani is one of the abodes of Lord Murugan Since, it has several pilgrims who may practise traditional medicine, we hope the park is extensively used by them,” he said.
He added that researchers, school and college students should make use of the park.
The Minister also distributed 252 free cycles as part of the State government’s initiative for students of Class 11 at Dharmathupatti Government High School and inaugurated a photo exhibition of the achievements of the State government over the last three years.
Collector M. Vijayalakshmi, District Forest Officer (Kodaikanal), S.N. Tejasvi, were among those who were present.