Tsunami Children’s Village
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HAPC’s plans to build a children’s village to care for some of the tsunami orphans, is now gaining momentum following the painstaking efforts of the Chennai committee and in particular, the co-ordinator of this project, Rev. Anjaneyan Govindasamy. The following is his report.
After visiting several sites, we have settled on building the village in The Nilgiris, and the process of land acquisition is under way.
The Nilgiris, popularly known as Blue Mountains, is part of the hill range called Western Ghats in India. The Nilgiris is a very famous, attractive tourist destination with its serene mountain range, idyllic scenery, and vast tracks of green tea plantations lined by silver oak trees and the occasionally quiet flowing streams. The British presence helped several towns like Ootacamund, Coonoor, Kotagiri and Gudalur to develop.
Kotagiri was the hill town where the British set up their first administrative office, Collectors office in the early part of the 18th Century. Kotagiri is 65kms by road from Coimbatore city the nearest airport. Kotagiri is known for its tea estates and the favourable climate, named by the people of this region as the second Swiss.
Location Of Site
When I started searching for a suitable land in and around Kotagiri I was able to locate one such land in a hamlet called Masakal, near Kotagiri. Mountains surround the land and the landscape itself is breathtaking. The land has a lot of green Blue gum Trees and plenty of vegetation and also a small tea garden. A road runs right through the land and just adjacent our land is a vast area that belongs to the Government which remains unused and can be acquired at a later stage after proper negotiation with the local revenue officials of Government of Tamil Nadu, once our projects starts functioning.
This place is just 8kms from Kotagiri with a good approach road, plenty of water supply and greenery. For the future developments there is lot of chance to acquire more land even from individuals. It is a very beautiful land site when we look at the place from the Masakal village.
Future Plans
The next plan to be executed, after procuring the land , is to build the infrastructure . Together with other committee members we have designed a basic plan for the structure to be built there. This plan will soon be available for circulation.
Another option that also dwells in our mind is the prospect of raising a good garden at the site, both flowers and vegetables. They grow well here because of the suitable climate and also fetch a good price in the market, especially in the plains. The income out of this cultivation can be used for the village itself and will also provide jobs for those in the village and around it.
Since The Nilgiris has good climate with sufficient rainfall cultivation can be carried through the year. Tall Eucalyptus and Silver Oak Trees and thick vegetation ensure a clean, green unpolluted atmosphere. The region being less populated is a quiet calm serene place to locate our village. The good all weather road provides easy accessibility and even big Trucks can easily negotiate the terrain.
We look forward to the support of HAPC’s fund raising branches -together we will all realise this Dream Project.
For Phase 1 costs of the Children’s Village project, please click here