VELLORE: The Green Yelagiri Society has appealed to the district administration to provide a natural divider instead of a concrete one that is being constructed on the main road in Athanavur village.
In a memorandum sent to the district collector, the society president, Pon Kadiravan, while welcoming the initiative taken by the district administration to streamline vehicular traffic on the hills, said that the concrete divider would not only kill the beauty of the hill village but also pose an inconvenience to locals. A ground-level divider with the provision to plant flowers and shrubs in between so that it enriches the greenery and cleanliness of the village is far better, he said.
In addition, the concrete divider being constructed does not provide a U-Turn facility in locations where it is required. A petition in this regard was submitted to the district administration when the proposal to construct the divider came up, Kadiravan said. Tourists who visited the hills, come here to relax and enjoy the beauty of the hills and any attempt to disrupt their attention in the form of traffic woes chase them away from the hills. In order to keep the hills green and clean besides promoting tourism activities, it is essential that any development plan should go in tandem with the local requirements and be visitor friendly, he argued.
The society has also suggested the laying of underground cables to provide electricity instead of erecting poles and using overhead wireson the hills. He urged the district administration to consider involving the locals while planning for tourism promotion activities in the hill. Kadiravan also wanted a long term plan to ban usage and sale of plastics on the hills so that all hill villages are saved from plastic-related problems. He has also appealed to the district administration to ban the sale of liquor which has in the past led to a number of anti-social activities on the hills.