Chief Minister inaugurates 70-acre eco-park near Aruppukottai

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin inaugurated an eco-park set up by Ramco Cements on 72 acres of unused quarry site at Pandalgudi in Virudhunagar district on Sunday.

The park with around 2.5 lakh saplings and shrubs, waterbodies and channel, has come up at a cost of ₹5.20 crore. Accompanied by State Ministers, K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran, and Thangam Thennarasu, and the Ramco Group Chairman, P.R. Venketarama Raja, the Chief Minister went around the park, which aims at restoring ecology.

This park is part of an ambitious plan to plant 1 million trees on 800 acres of land by 2027. At present, it has 200 varieties of plants and trees, including drought-resistant plants, creepers, meadow and rockery garden. The rockery garden has been created with the waste stones and boulders of the quarry. A Miyawaki garden has been set up on 40 acres.

The officials have chosen trees that could thrive on the arid land of Virudhunagar district, which has been located in a rain-shadow region.

An interpretation centre has been constructed for the benefits of school and college students. The work for the park that began in 2019 has now attracted several birds and animals like rabbits, mongoose, and reptiles. A butterfly garden has also been proposed.

Tenkasi MP Dhanush M. Kumar; MLAs, A.R.R. Seenivasan, S. Thangapandian A.R.R. Raghuraman and G. Ashokan; Additional Chief Secretary, Industries S. Krishnan; Virudhunagar Collector J. Meghanath Reddy and P.V. Nirmala Venketarama Raja, P.V. Abinav Ramasubramaniya Raja, Chief Executive Officer, A.V. Dharmakrishnan, among others, were present.