CHENNAI: Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa inaugurated forest staff quarters, rest houses, anti-poaching camp buildings, monitoring towers, forest material storage buildings, monkey rehabilitation centres and butterfly park, constructed at a total cost of `40.93 crore in various parts of the State.
An official press release here said that the State government had been taking various measures for the welfare of field staff of the forest department, resulting in the increase of forest cover from 219 square kilometres to 23,844 square kilometres.
The Chief Minister on Friday inaugurated the Forest Department’s staff quarters at Megamalai in Theni district, Thoothukudi, Madurai, Dindigul and Sivaganga at a cost of `1.81 crore, besides Tiruvannamalai and Tirupattur in Vellore district.
She also unveiled quarters for the staff and Forest Department buildings in Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari, Tiruvannamalai, Karur, Salem, Erode, Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Tiruchy, Namakkal, Tiruppur, Vellore and Madurai at an estimated cost of `1.69 crore. She also inaugurated administrative office buildings at Nanmangalam in Kancheepuram, Tiruchy, Villipuram and Vellore districts, besides similar buildings in Tiruvarur, Tiruppur, Perambalur, Namakkal, Tirunelveli, Vellore, Erode, Dindigul, Villupuram, Theni, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Tiruvannamalai and Tiruvallur districts.
The Chief Minister inaugurated rest houses at Killai in Cuddalore, Namakkal, Kanyakumari and Tiruchy, besides hostel for forest staff in Theni and anti-poaching centres in Tirunelveli, Erode, Kancheepuram, Coimbatore, Virudhunagar, Kanyakumari, Vellore, Theni, Dindigul and Nilgiris. She also inaugurated bird watching towers Manakkudi, Therur, Puthalam in Kanyakumari district and Pallikaranai in Kancheepuram district.