CHENNAI: Raj Bhavan has clarified that it has not made any change in the Star Garden as reported by TNIE on April 20, and that the recent renovation undertaken in November 2021 was on the Main Lawn. It has also clarified that this lawn is not a grazing ground for animals.
The Main Lawn, in which the open theatre stage is located is the venue for all the public functions of Raj Bhavan including ‘At Home Reception’, ‘Swearing-in Ceremonies’, ‘Pongal Reception’, etc. “This lawn is renovated from time to time by the Department of Horticulture,” it said in the response. “Star Garden remains (an) undisturbed usual grazing ground for animals including deer,” it clarified.
The government officials tell TNIE that the Raj Bhavan campus being a reserve forest, prior permission of forest department is required for undertaking any change in the landscape or any beautification work. Pertaining to replacing native grass with alien species, Shiva Subramaniam, Joint Director in Horticulture Department who executed the lawn work, confirmed to TNIE that Mexican grass was laid in the Main Lawn, measuring 2.5 acres during November-December, 2021.
“The earlier grass was almost dead and had to be replaced. For the initial 10 days, we had to ensure blackbucks and deer don’t enter the newly laid lawn as the carpet grass was coming off when animals were trying to munch on it,” he said.
Horticulture Director R Brindha Devi said the new grass was laid on the instructions of the Public Works Department. She said the previous lawn renovation was undertaken about 6-7 years back and claimed that even then, the same variety of grass was laid. However, senior forest officials said it was native grass that was removed.
Senior forest officials and experts have also disputed other claims of Raj Bhavan. T R Shankar Raman, noted wildlife scientist from Nature Conservation Foundation who did extensive studies on Guindy National Park, said: “All grasslands, open spaces, and thorny scrub forests like Polo Ground in Guindy National Park and lawns in Raj Bhavan are critical habitats (grazing and breeding) for blackbuck, which is a schedule-1 animal. Introducing an alien species in a reserve forest is not at all recommended. They may even turn invasive. There are hundreds of native grass species available, why not use them for lawns. It is ironic that this was done when Tamil Nadu is working on a policy for removal of alien invasive species from forest areas.”
Dr RJ Ranjit Daniels, trustee, Care Earth who evolved a recovery strategy for blackbucks in IIT-Madras, said: “Already, there is inbreeding stress on blackbuck population due to restriction in free movement. The construction of a wall between IIT-Madras and Guindy National Park has contributed to it. Now, activities like the introduction of alien grass species and compromising on critical habitats will be highly detrimental. Raj Bhavan being in a reserve forest should accord respect and priority to schedule-1 species like blackbucks above all.”
There are multiple photos and selfies published by the general public on different social media platforms showing blackbucks and spotted deer grazing on the Main Lawn of the Raj Bhavan. Prabhu Kutty, who is the Assistant Director of Horticulture in Tiruchy, has posted photos of Mexican grass being laid in the Raj Bhavan on social media.
In the statement, Raj Bhavan also contested the death toll of blackbucks reported in the news article and said the actual number was far less, without quoting any number. On April 24, TNIE already clarified that between January 2021 and April 2022, 16 blackbucks died. Of this, nine died between November 2021 and March 2022. In comparison, only 10 died in the 2017-20 period.
The statement also claimed that TNIE didn’t seek comments from the Raj Bhavan Secretariat. Well before going to the press, TNIE had made several calls to T Sengottaiyan, Deputy Secretary to Governor and Comptroller of Household, and sent messages. An email was also sent to the ID provided on the official website of Raj Bhavan. All went unanswered.
Raj Bhavan’s statement is silent on the building violations highlighted in an accompanying article. Raj Bhavan has added 11,315 sq.m of built-up area post-enactment of the Forest (Conservation) Act in 1980 without statutory clearances. Between 1980 to 2022, six new construction projects were executed during various years and no prior FCA clearance was obtained. The A to L blocks of servant’s quarters, constructed in 7,266.60 sq.m in 2013, were the latest construction.