MEMORIALIZED FOREST TRIBUTE

 

One of the oldest Forest Ranges in Tamil Nadu, the Bodi Range of Theni Division boasts a Forest Check Post in Bodi Range situated on Munar road in Mundal. The check post, located on the highway's land, has operated in a temporary building for decades. During 2001, when I was a Bodi Ranger, pressure arose to vacate the highway land, and the DFO, Mr F.R. Ikram Mohammed Shah, IFS, instructed me to select an alternate land on the same road, preferably free of cost. Village records indicated some available land with the Bodinaickanur Zamin family. With the help of my range staff, Thiru S. Muthuramalingam (FW) and Thiru R. Jeyabal (FG), I repeatedly contacted the family. I facilitated a meeting with the zamindar, Thiru T.B.S.S. Chokalingasamy Pandian, and explained the situation, and requested him to donate one ground of land on the Mundal road, near the existing check post.

The Zamindar, Thiru T.B.S.S. Chokalingasamy Pandian, generously offered three cents of land, one of their most valuable plots. He explained that the land was registered in the name of his elderly mother, Tmt Paun Thai @Chinna Thayammal. Recognizing the family's magnanimity, we requested the registrar to visit the Zamin Palace in 2001 and formally register the land in the name of the Government of Tamil Nadu, as Tmt Paun Thai @Chinna Thayammal was unable to travel. The Zamin family wished to commemorate their gift by inscribing details on the check post facade. I agreed, and a report with the copies of the land documents was submitted to the DFO, Theni. The Bodi Check Post was initially shifted to a temporary shed on the new land. Twelve years later, a permanent check post was constructed and inaugurated by the Forest Minister, in the presence of Mr F.R. Ikram Mohammed Shah, IFS, who had since become the Madurai Conservator of Forests.

As per the wishes of the Bodinaickanur Zamin family, the details of the donated land were inscribed on a stone and laid in front of the Check Post. We extend our sincere gratitude to the Bodinaickanur Zamin family for their generous and memorable gift to the Forest department.