Valparai town would be given a facelift
Valparai: Minister for Rural Industries Pongalur N. Palanisamy on Monday announced that Valparai town would be given a facelift by removing encroachments and widening the ghat road from Aliyar to Valparai.Mr. Palanisamy was speaking at a function organised to mark the valedictory function of the three-day Kodai Vizha.He urged the District Collector to identify the encroachments and remove them. He also promised the tea estate workers that steps were being taken to get their wages increased on a par with the wage rates prevailing in plantations in other parts of the country.He exhorted tea estate managements to consider cutting down their advertisement expenditure and increase workers' wages.The Minister expressed hope that the economy of this region would get a fillip if Valparai got a facelift and the untapped tourism potential there was tapped fully.
These measures besides arresting migration would improve the standards of living of the people in the region.He also reminded the plantation managements that the Centre had asked them to ensure that at least 10 per cent of other crops were cultivated other than tea.
He also distributed welfare aid worth Rs. 48 lakh to the poor. District Collector Neeraj Mittal said the very objective of Kodai Vizha was to promote and showcase Valparai as an ideal tourist destination. Valparai could be promoted like Kodaikkanal or Udhagamandalam, he said. He thanked the Round Table for donating furniture to schools in Valparai.The anti-plastic campaign launched in Valparai during the Kodai Vizha was only an attempt to create the required awareness to preserve the unique ecological balance and to prevent environmental degradation.
After enough sensitisation in phases, Mr. Mittal said the anti-plastic campaign would be turned into a total ban on plastics.
He thanked the stakeholders and private firms for their participation in making the Kodai Vizha a grand success. Besides showcasing the rich flora and fauna of Valparai and the tourism spots, adventure sports such as Zorbing, Kayaking and Rappelling and local talents were displayed to enthral the visiting tourists besides an air show by the Long EZ aircraft.Pollachi Sub-Collector Vijay Pingle, Valparai MLA Kovai Thangam, Valparai Municipal Chairman N. Ganesan and Executive Officer, Benjamin took part.
