8 years on, Yelagiri botanical garden fails to germinate

Vellore: Eight years have gone since the Tamil Nadu government made the announcement to establish the state's largest botanical garden in Yelagiri Hills to boost tourism. But not a brick has moved till date.
Officials have put the 20 crore project on the backburner following protests from 15 families living on the land earmarked for the project in Pallakaniyur village.
The botanical garden project was not only aimed at improving the tourism potential of Yelagiri, considered poor man's Ooty, but also create employment for over 500 tribals in the hills. A team of experts from agriculture and horticulture departments conducted a soil test on the proposed site and submitted a report end of 2008 to the district administration. The government allocated 90 lakh for erecting fencing and construction of a compound wall around the site.
However, the project hit a roadblock when the officials had taken up compound wall work. The families living on the proposed site protested and stalled the work. "Though the families were willing to move out from the land if they were given an alternative site for their livelihood, the officials did not take any initiative to identify an alternative site to relocate them. The administration's lethargic attitude has delayed the project," said a councillor in Yelagiri Hills.
DMK senior leader Durai Murugan said that the AIADMK government had failed to follow the development projects of the DMK government, which had initiated the project. In the 2015 summer festival, commercial taxes minister K C Veeramani, who represents Jolarpet constituency, promised that the project would materialize before the 2016 summer festival, but that hasn't happened. "There is a dispute over the proposed site for the project. We will take necessary steps to solve the problems. We will resume work after discussing the project with the tourism minister," Veeramani said.