CHENNAI: After being stripped threadbare by Cyclone Vardah, the Nanmangalam Reserve Forest has become a dumping yard for the eateries surrounding it, revealed a cleanup organised by the Department of Forests on Sunday.
The cyclone, which claimed most of the forest’s eucalyptus trees, has opened it up to the dumping of more garbage. For a long time, the dumping of garbage on the peripheries of the forest has been common practice. The littering, which has now spread to interiors of the forest, is mainly attributed to the fast food joints along the Velachery Main Road.
However, when Express asked a few food joints about the food waste dumped inside the forest, they vehemently denied the allegations. “Dumping of domestic waste by the residents living near the forest is another major issue that has to be addressed,” said Nishanth from Snatch a Break, a Chennai-based NGO. Alcohol bottles, broken commodes, shattered tiles and construction waste were also found in the forest.
The Department of Forests despite having a base in the forest has not been able to control the littering and was forced to organise a cleanup. The cleanup supported by Snatch a Break and Save Earth for Next Generation evoked a response from more than 450 volunteers, including students from the NSN School near Tambaram.
Armed with plastic protective gloves and plastic bags, the volunteers assembled near Santhoshapuram, the area adjacent to the part of the forest witnessing the most littering. “A fence is absolutely necessary to prevent people from going inside to defecate and dump waste,” said Santhosh Kshathriyan, from Chennai-based social service group Future of Tamil Nadu.
According to Lakshana Kumar, a forest ranger in the Nanmangalam Reserve Forest, a proposal for a fence is awaiting a nod from the State government. The forest covers an area of 320 hectares and is home to over 85 bird species.