MADURAI: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court seeking to declare the Shenbagathoppu-Alagarkoil forest area near Srivilliputhur, which comes under Srivilliputhur-Megamalai Tiger Reserve, as a 'Grizzled Squirrel National Park'.
The litigant, C Pandiaraj of Srivilliputhur in Virudhunagar district, said in his petition that Shenbagathoppu forest and Alagarkoil forest areas were declared as 'Grizzled Squirrels Wildlife Sanctuary' in the year 1988. The Shenbagathoppu forest covers an area of about 236 acres and belongs to Nachiyar temple. Grizzled squirrels are found in large numbers in this forest area, he added. This forest has an area of about 40 sq km and more than 500 grizzled squirrels, leopards, elephants, tigers and various species of birds and insects live in these forests, he added.
The state government announced the above forest area and several other forest areas around it as 'Srivilliputhur-Megamalai Tiger Reserve in 2021, he added. But due to unchecked illegal mining and deforestation activities in the forest, it is drying up and the grizzled squirrels and many species of birds and insects living in Shenbagathoppu are dying, Pandiaraj alleged and sought the above relief.
When the case was heard on Friday, a Bench of justices SS Sundar and D Bharatha Chakravarthy posted the case along with a similar petition that is pending before the court.