CHENNAI: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday condemned the government notification by the state government to declare Bargur hills in Erode district as a wildlife sanctuary. He said the AIADMK cadre will stage a demonstration led by former minister KA Sengottaiyan in Thamaraikarai in Adhiyur taluk on July 6 seeling the withdrawal of the notification.
Palaniswami said in 35 remote villages in the Bargur panchayat union, around 2,000 Adi Dravida families and 4,000 Lingayat families are living, and their livelihood is grazing cattle in the forest area and agriculture. “If this area is notified as wildlife sanctuary, the livelihood of thousands of families would be affected. Hence, the government should withdraw the order immediately,” Palaniswami said.
He also explained that if the area is declared a wildlife sanctuary, the tribal people living in the area cannot graze their cattle in the forest, and they will face difficulties in transporting gooseberries, ink nuts, Seemarpul (Phoenix loureiroi Kunth) etc, which they produce in the forest land, to the plains.