THANJAVUR: For the first time in its 38 years of existence, the sprawling Tamil University (TU) is about to get a compound. The wall is being built at a cost of Rs 1.59 crore. Once the 825 acres is secured, it would go a long way in preserving its vegetation, which has earned the university its tag the lungs of Thanjavur city.
The university was established on 1,000 acres allotted by then Chief Minister MGR. Later, a portion of the land was allotted for housing scheme, the South Zone Cultural Centre and the new collectorate campus. The university now covers an area of 825 acres. “It is estimated there are 358 species of trees and plants on the campus,” an official told TNIE. Besides, there are 78 species of birds, including 13 migratory birds, a large number of star tortoises, many species of venomous and non-venomous snakes, peacocks, peahens, monitor lizards, mongoose and hares..
Till recently the campus and its thick vegetation were enclosed in a barbed wire fence, which was breached in many places around the 13-km periphery of the campus. This led to cattle grazing and illegal felling of trees. “Of late, there were small incidents of theft in the residential quarters area of the university,” an official told TNIE.
Following demands by the university, the State government in the 2018-19 budget allocated `1.59 crore for a concrete compound wall. “With the funds, we are constructing the compound wall to a length of 1.747 km,” an engineer of the university who is executing the project said.
As of now, compound wall construction which is in the final stages has covered the southern and northern portion of TU where highways are located.
On the eastern and western sides, the compound wall is needed to protect the campus.
“We need funds to construct the concrete compound wall to an extent of 11 km for which we have been writing to the government,” the engineer said.
If the entire area is enclosed, the TU campus would effectively act as the lungs of Thanjavur city as Guindy National Park has been acting as the lungs of Chennai city, officials said.