VELLORE: At the gram sabha meeting held here, Collector R Nanthagopal urged the public to reduce the use of plastics.
Around 100 residents attended the meeting, which was held at the village administrative office in Sevur panchayat on Friday. The Collector headed the meeting that was attended by many government officials.
The Collector said,“The State government is reaching the people to address their problems. As part of this effort, the gram sabha meeting had been organised. Vellore is a dry district and to increase the ground water level, people should implement rain water harvesting system (RWH).
In all government buildings, we have planned to install the RWH system and it is in the conclusion stage. Further, Collector Nanthagopal added, “We have to reduce the use of polythene and other materials, which harm environment. In villages, each household should build toilets to create a healthy environment.”
Resolutions like solid waste management system, rain water harvesting and reduction of use of polythene were passed in the meeting. The public also submitted petitions regarding drainage problems to the Collector.
Many villagers in Sevur expressed deep concerns about their farm lands being destroyed by wild pigs. They also claimed that they had been complaining about the issue to the district administration in this regard, several times.
C Kasinathan, a resident of Sevur panchayat said, “In the last five years, wild pigs have destroyed groundnut and sugarcane crops. I didn’t benefit through my investment in fields,”
D Rajagopal, vice-president of Sevur panchayat union said,“I complained many times regarding the wild pig issue. The district officials assured that they would stop the wild pigs from entering the agricultural fields with the help of forest officials. But, till now no action has been taken.”
M Nagalingam, another resident of the Sevur panchayat said,“My 2-acre agricultural land has never yielded any profit in the last 3 years due to the destruction caused by the wild pigs. I submitted many petitions in the past in many gram sabha meetings, but there has been no response.”